For more than a decade, Cillian Murphy has been synonymous with Tommy Shelby, the razor-sharp, haunted antihero at the heart of Peaky Blinders. But as Murphy himself recently reflected, he’s nothing like the “psychopathic gangster” he played for over a quarter of his life. “It’s a gift and a privilege,” he told BBC News of the role that defined him, but now the Irish actor is stepping into entirely new territory with his latest film, Steve.
Released in select cinemas on September 19, 2025, and set to debut globally on Netflix on October 3, Steve is a raw, chaotic, and deeply moving portrait of a day in the life of a last-chance reform school for troubled boys in 1990s Britain. Murphy stars as the titular headteacher, a man whose compassion is matched only by the weight of his own struggles. The film, based on Max Porter’s 2023 novella Shy (with Porter adapting his own work for the screen), is directed by Tim Mielants—marking the pair’s second feature collaboration after their acclaimed adaptation of Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These.
“I tried to take a completely different approach to the whole process for this one,” Murphy told Metro. Known for his meticulous preparation—locking himself away, researching, and dissecting every aspect of a character—he decided to throw that out the window for Steve. “I felt the best way to prepare for this is just to be completely present in every moment and try and absorb what’s happening to the character as it’s happening.”
This choice, Murphy admitted to LADbible, left him “genuinely terrified.” “I really didn’t plan anything in how I would play it and I was really, genuinely, terrified by it because I’ve never done that before. And there was no accent, there was no physical transformation, it was none of that stuff. It was just: be in the vortex of it and see what happens.”
But if Murphy was nervous, the result is anything but tentative. Critics have praised his performance as a rallying, railing portrayal of a broken education system, with Empire Magazine calling it “a rallying, railing portrayal of a broken education system” and Rolling Stone Magazine describing the film as “darkly funny and thought-provoking – and as nail-biting as you might expect.” As of September 19, Steve boasts a 77% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 47 reviews.
The story unfolds over a single, tumultuous day at Stanton Wood, a privately funded reform school housed in an old manor in the English countryside. Steve, the headteacher, is the heart of the place, surrounded by a dedicated team: his plain-talking deputy Amanda (Tracey Ullman), the unflappable therapist Jenny (Emily Watson), and a lively, unpredictable group of students. Among them is Shy (Jay Lycurgo), a troubled adolescent whose journey mirrors Steve’s own inner battles.
“It’s a flip-side of a coin what these characters are experiencing and they just can’t reach each other,” Murphy explained to BBC News. The film chronicles a day where everything that can go wrong, does: a documentary crew with questionable motives is filming, a local MP (played by Roger Allam) makes a disastrous visit, and both Steve and Shy receive devastating news. The chaos is relentless, but so is the humanity at the story’s core.
Porter, who wrote the role specifically for Murphy, wanted to strip away the usual trappings of character work—no accent, no costume, nowhere to hide. “I was really interested in the kind of challenge for him as an actor, having pushed him in that direction a little bit before,” Porter told LADbible. The result is a performance that’s been described as “astonishing” in its depiction of someone struggling with addiction issues. “I’m hearing responses to the movie from addicts and recovering addicts that is the case – it’s the best depiction they’ve seen on screen of that game they are playing with themselves and the visibility of it to others. And that extraordinary darkness but also high-functioning, brilliant people who are struggling with this.”
Murphy’s connection to the world of education isn’t just professional. “Both my parents are retired teachers, and my grandfather was a headmaster,” he shared. “My aunties and uncles – all of them, are educators.” Yet, he intentionally didn’t draw directly from these influences for the role, opting instead to let the experience wash over him in real time. “I wanted to try and make it like he’s just been thrown into this world and he’s just desperately trying to stay afloat,” Murphy said. “So I was kind of like that a little bit as a performer, just being buffeted by everything all of the time by new information, new challengers.”
The supporting cast’s preparation also reflects the film’s commitment to authenticity. Lycurgo, who plays Shy, sought out “first person communication” with boys in alternative education units, while Simbi Ajikawo (better known as Little Simz), who plays new teacher Shola, drew on her own experiences with youth workers to inform her performance. “Being in that space, and how I felt like I could communicate with them and how I felt like they just received me with open arms,” Ajikawo said.
Steve doesn’t shy away from the hard truths of education in challenging circumstances. The film’s themes—men’s mental health, adolescent violence, and the relentless work of teachers—are as relevant today as they were in 1996. “It is just demonstrating that this stuff is always there,” Murphy remarked. The film, he said, is a “love letter to teachers,” honoring their role as “custodians of the next generation.”
Yet, for all its social realism, Steve isn’t just a gritty drama. Its energy is electric, its humor dark, and its heart unmistakable. As Los Angeles Times critic Mark Olsen noted, “When ‘Steve’ zeroes in on its characters… the movie captures the electric hum of unpredictability and vulnerability. At its best, we understand why these people want to keep the lights on in a dark, unforgiving world.”
With Steve, Murphy and Porter have delivered a film that’s messy, passionate, and utterly human—a testament to the resilience of those who fight, day after day, to make a difference where it matters most.
