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Steve, Netflix’s brand-new drama, features Cillian Murphy as the headteacher of Stanton Wood, a government-supported school that reforms the behavior of disturbed boys. It is located in England in the 1990s. The movie, an adaptation of Max Porter’s award-winning novel and directed by Tim Mielants, is set during Steve’s one day of trial when he fights to save the school while letting his students experience their inner conflicts beside him.
The plot is largely supported by Jay Lycurgo’s acting as Shy, who simultaneously deals with loneliness and rage. Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, and Emily Watson provide the backdrop.
Audiences and critics are drawn to Steve for its nuanced depiction of resilience, the complexities of mentorship, and the ripple effects of institutional change. With a grounded tone and a focus on character, Steve stands out as a thoughtful exploration of hope and hardship.
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7 Cillian Murphy movies to watch if you liked him in Steve
1) Batman Begins (Stream on HBO Max)
Batman Begins is the first time Cillian Murphy worked with director Christopher Nolan. The storyline depicts Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) returning to Gotham and embarking on his crusade as Batman after experiencing loss and suffering.
Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), who is a psychiatrist researching fear, gets tangled up in a plot to release a fear-inducing gas all over the city so that his master, Ras Al Ghul, can take over. The film’s ensemble also features Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and Katie Holmes, besides Bale and Murphy.
Batman Begins revives the Batman franchise with a focus on Gotham's grimy aspects, the mob's corruption, and the characters' psychological depth. The movie had a very positive reception from the critics and was nominated for an Academy Award. It has also been very influential in developing the superhero genre in the last decade.
Those who enjoyed Steve will find Batman Begins compelling for exploring psychological complexity and moral dilemmas.
2) A Quiet Place Part II (Stream on Hulu)
A Quiet Place Part II follows the Abbott family, led by Emily Blunt, as they escape their ravaged home to travel through a perilous new place, still dominated by the sound-hunting creatures. A new story is being told through another John Krasinski-directed film, which also stars Cillian Murphy as Emmett, a lone survivor who lost his family and decides to go on with life with the help of Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe.
On their journey into the unknown, the group realizes that the monsters are not the only threat - other humans exist. Emmett's character, played by Murphy, enriches the film's theme of distrust and the fight for survival in a cruel world.
The sequel to the original is built around the idea of survival in silence and goes a step further by introducing new characters, conflicts, and precarious situations. The movie is acclaimed for expanding the universe and gradually changing the characters’ relationships.
3) Dunkirk (Stream on HBO Max)
Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy reunited in 2017 to make Dunkirk, a war film that narrates the evacuation of the Allies' soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, in 1940.
The movie depicts the journey of British, French, and Belgian troops as they battle for their lives in the midst of German attacks, the story being told through three different but interconnected narratives: the soldiers abandoned on the beach, the civilian sailors sailing across the English Channel, and the Royal Air Force pilots supporting from the air.
Murphy becomes a member of the large cast, taking the role of a frightened soldier. Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Fionn Whitehead, and Harry Styles also join the ensemble.
4) Sunshine (Rent or Buy on Amazon or Apple TV)
Sunshine (2007) is a science fiction thriller film directed by Danny Boyle, starring Cillian Murphy and co-starring Rose Byrne and Chris Evans. In 2057, the storyline follows a team of astronauts on a spaceship called Icarus II whose mission is to reboot the dying Sun with a giant nuclear bomb.
As they reach the Sun, the astronauts encounter technical and psychological issues. Among these is the finding of the destroyed predecessor ship, Icarus I, which had a catastrophic failure, thus, the tragedy that started the crew to unravel further gradually. The plot is now full of danger, as the characters are fighting the harsh outer space environment and dealing with the turmoil within the ship and between each other.
It is a sci-fi movie with some psychological thriller elements and themes of sacrifice, survival, and human willpower against the universe-sized dangers.
5) The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Stream on Philo)
Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a film that depicts the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War that followed. In the narrative, the brothers Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy O’Donovan (Pádraic Delaney) become members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) so that they may be able to resist British rule.
Damien advocates a more revolutionary and absolute line of action, while Teddy supports a practical way of dealing with matters; this difference in opinion causes a rift between them. The story is a sensitive and complex exploration of love, sacrifice, and political struggle as the brothers’ dynamic drifts.
The name comes from one of the traditional Irish songs, which aligns with the film's historical and cultural aspects. The movie was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and commended as a piece of work for the personal and political side of Ireland’s fight for independence.
6) 28 Days Later (Stream on Netflix)
28 Days Later (2002) is a story about Jim, who was put into a deep sleep in the hospital, played by Cillian Murphy. He wakes up to a zombie apocalypse-like, empty London full of infected people with a virus known as "Rage" that is very contagious and violent.
A group of animal rights activists was the cause of the outbreak when they freed the infected chimpanzees from a laboratory, which led to the collapse of the whole United Kingdom society. To survive, Jim becomes a member of a small group of survivors, both the infected and the non-infected, who pose a danger to them. The movie deals with motifs such as surviving, trusting, and losing social order in a post-apocalyptic world.
It was a Danny Boyle directorial work and a script by Alex Garland that gave a new life to the zombie genre and is now considered one of the most influential horror movies from the first two decades of the 21st century.
7) Oppenhimer (Stream on Roku)
Oppenheimer (2023), directed by Christopher Nolan, is a biographical drama that tells the story of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man in charge of the Manhattan Project during World War II. It also covers how Oppenheimer's scientific knowledge led the way to the first nuclear bomb and the complicated personal and political aspects he touched on thereafter.
Cillian Murphy plays Oppenheimer, the story of the genius and his peers, his love affairs, and his ethical issues of nuclear weapons creation.
The story of the atomic era finally follows the life of Robert Oppenheimer, from the early days of wartime research, until the mid-fifties, when the 1954 security clearance hearing for Oppenheimer's political affiliations and accusations of hostility towards the hydrogen bomb came under investigation.
Among the 2024 Oscars, the film won 7 awards, including Best Actor for Murphy's performance. It is also highly praised for its contributions to the history of sound, cinematography, and storytelling of one of the most important events in the history of the 20th century.
Steve is currently streaming on Netflix.
