In just one month, Cillian Murphy will become Steve at the Toronto International Film Festival when the Netflix drama novel reimagining makes its debu
In just one month, Cillian Murphy will become Steve at the Toronto International Film Festival when the Netflix drama novel reimagining makes its debut as part of the Platform Prize section of the event. Before critics get their eyes on it for the first time, however, the official trailer has just been released, giving viewers a peek into a day in the life of the titular troubled headteacher. After winning Best Actor for his standout role as the titular Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan‘s 2023 blockbuster, the Peaky Blinders star will be playing a recent, heartwrenching role as the one hope for the forsaken students of a last-chance reform school on the brink of closure. While fighting for the kids, he also has no shortage of problems of his own that he needs to navigate.
Based on the Sunday Times bestseller Shy by author Max Porter, Steve begins on a pivotal day in the 1990s for its protagonist and the school he runs for boys with behavioral and societal difficulties. The institution’s integrity is crumbling, and it’s about to be shut down, marking yet another strike against the students that society has forsaken. While the story will offer some darkly comedic moments, the trailer assures the focus is on the drama and the pressure on Murphy’s anxious headteacher, who is pulling out all the stops to protect the school while battling his mental health. He’s not the only focus, as the film also introduces one of his students, Shy (Jay Lycurgo), who’s wrestling with his past and future and trying to embrace his inner fragility and reconcile it with his tendency toward violence. For both, the future of the school means so much to their lives and how they move forward.
Murphy will be reuniting with multiple previous collaborators for the film, including director Tim Mielants, who helmed the Murphy-led period drama Small Things Like These last year. In addition to writing the novella, Porter penned the screenplay and served as an executive producer, with Murphy, Alan Moloney, and Tina Pawlik producing. Also appearing on-screen are fellow Small Things star Emily Watson, Simbi Ajikawo, aka Little Simz, and, in a scarce dramatic appearance, the great Tracey Ullman.
‘Steve’ Comes From a Real Place for Murphy
Although it follows the same material, Steve is quite different from Shy. Porter’s original novel instead follows the perspective of the titular Shy navigating a few hours as he contemplates fleeing the school, exploring the racing thoughts in his mind, and how his shadowy thoughts and actions manifest. In a recent interview with Deadline alongside Murphy, Mielants, and Moloney, the author shared that the idea came from real teachers sharing their experiences working with kids like Shy and his desire to represent that side of the story. Murphy also pulled from a bit of personal experience to develop his role, citing his parents and his grandfather’s background in schooling as inspiration for the stress and anxiety of that responsibility.
Both my parents are teachers, so I grew up in a household where I saw the after effects of standing in front of 35 teenagers all day long while my mother was trying to raise four of her own, and they were both out at work. My grandfather is a headmaster. All my aunts and uncles are teachers. So I know that inside-out of that world. This is a more extreme world, clearly, because you’re dealing with these very volatile and unpredictable and damaged kids. But having said that, I kind of knew it, but I couldn’t have done it without knowing the people like the way I know these guys so well and trust them so much, because there was really no acting involved. It was kind of like reacting or existing or being and being available and being porous and being just completely without filter or anything like that. And it was f—ing scary in a great way, and it’s a very exhilarating way, but like, just you’re in this jangled state of anxiety for two months.”
Steve will premiere at TIFF, which runs from September 4 through 14, before coming home on Netflix on October 3. Check out the trailer in the player above.
Steve
Release Date
October 3, 2025
Runtime
92 minutes
Director
Tim Mielants
Writers
Max Porter
Producers
Alan Moloney
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