Since reaching the peak of acting Everest with his Academy Award winning performance in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, it's been fascinating to se
Since reaching the peak of acting Everest with his Academy Award winning performance in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, it’s been fascinating to see what Cillian Murphy has done next. First up, there was Small Things Like These, a low-budget, independent Irish movie about the horrors of the Magdalene laundries in which. And now, before returning to the roles of Tommy Shelby in Steven Knight’s upcoming Peaky Blinders movie and Jim in 28 Years Later sequel The Bone Temple, Murphy has immersed himself in another intense, small-scale character study: Steve. The Netflix bound movie, based on author Max Porter’s Shy, is a mid-90s set drama in which Murphy plays — you guessed it! — Steve, headteacher of a struggling reformatory. Set over the course of a pivotal day for the school, Steve looks incredibly intense — and you can check out the trailer below;
Phew! That was intense. Suffice it to say, we don’t remember any scenes in Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams’ pupils called him a dickhead — or themselves ‘sexy little bastards’ for that matter. But then again, Porter’s experimental source material, named after its teen protagonist, was never really shooting for any “O captain, my captain” moments to begin with. And in Steve, which reunites Murphy with Small Things Like These director Tim Mielants, the POV shift from student to teacher looks to tee up a profound examination of a man trying his best to get through to a group of lads who’ve simultaneously never been heard and always been too thunderous to listen.
Here’s the official synopsis for the movie, which also co-stars Tracey Ullman and Emily Watson: “The film “[Steve] follows a pivotal day in the life of head teacher Steve (Murphy) and his students at a last-chance reform school amid a world that has forsaken them. As Steve fights to protect the school’s integrity and prevent its impending closure, he grapples with his own mental health. In parallel to Steve’s struggles, we meet Shy (Jay Lycurgo), a troubled teen caught between his past and what lies ahead as he tries to reconcile his inner fragility with his impulse for self-destruction and violence.”
Class will be in session for Steve when Mielants’ movie hits selected cinemas on 19 September ahead of a global streaming release on Netflix on 3 October. We will be seated.
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