Steve

Released 2025. Director: Tim Mielants

JUST LIKE OPPENHEIMER, CILLIAN MURPHY'S latest movie is named after his lead character. Unlike the history-making scientist, this time Cillian plays one of those many unsung educators who toil in the background silently and unrecognised.

Cillian plays Steve, head-teacher at a British reform school for delinquent boys in this indie drama that also reunites him with director Tim Mileants. The two collaborated earlier on Small Things Like These, which dealt with the mistreatment of unwed mothers by the Irish Catholic church. Once again, director and actor return to modest filmmaking that’s character-driven with a passion for highlighting social issues.

The movie takes place over the course of a chaotic day with the arrival (and in some ways an intrusion) of a TV news team, their cameramen and sound crew following the teachers and capturing the aggression and unruly manners of the students. One of the questions put forth is whether this reform school is worth the public fund, which the presenter uncharitably describes as a very expensive dumping ground for society's waste product. Later that day Steve and his colleagues will be told that the grounds have been sold and the school will be shut within months. Not only will the staff lose their jobs, but what do they do with these antisocial and aimless young men?

Mielants attempts to make the movie immersive with grainy visuals and shaky hand-held camera moves when we see through the lens at interviews. At other times the movie maintains a docu-drama style as we become observers of life at the school at close range, which is basically operating at crisis mode. A fight breaks out in the canteen, trolleys are shoved punches fly. In a corridor Steve tries to reason with an angry student. In a dorm room he listens and commiserates, doing his best to be sympathetic and encouraging. He is needed everywhere, all the time, stretched to his breaking point but never getting a moment of true respite from the revolving door of chaos.

Steve is an authority figure but he’s not a disciplinarian. He is protective of the troublemakers and sees the potentials beneath their detrimental personalities. He has a genuine compassion for the boys and they in turn respect and mostly co-operate with Steve on his efforts to keep them off the streets and perhaps change their behaviour.

The under-resourced faculty barely has time to deal with the unsettling news of the imminent closure. Steve is particularly shaken, the stress on him caught on camera and he feeds his addiction to painkillers whenever he sneaks away for a second. But the day isn’t over just yet. One of the boys, nicknamed Shy, has just been cut loose by his mother who's had enough of his destructive behaviour. Later that night he will walk into a nearby river with a backpack full of rocks trying to end his own life.

This movie doesn’t hold back in its depiction of the thankless dedication of teachers, counsellors and administrators in service of troubled youth. They are physically and mentally exhausted, thwarted at every turn and not always in agreement with one another. Acting is ace from Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson (as counsellor Jenny) and Tracey Ullman (as Amanda the deputy) supported by a commendable young cast able to remain obnoxious and provocative throughout. You could argue that the themes explored here deserve a longer and deeper inquiry. What we see here feels like an introduction to the daily challenges faced by those whose job is to pull troubled teens back from the brink, and a general depiction of male aggression and despondency.

With only a narrow window into the tumultuous endeavour of youth reform, mental health and resilience is the focus here. While men and women like Steve, Jenny and Amanda only just make it through a gruelling day at the office, it makes you wonder about their real-life counterparts as they soldier on day after day, like Sisyphus pushing his boulder uphill. Are the people whose job is to correct the paths of wayward youth being looked after themselves?

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