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Steve is directed by Tim Mielants and produced by Cillian Murphy’s Big Things Films alongside Alan Moloney, Lyndsay Myles and Tina Pawlik. The cast includes Murphy in the title role, Jay Lycurgo as Shy, Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo and Emily Watson. Music is composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, and filming took place between May and July 2024.
The film is adapted from Max Porter’s 2023 novella Shy. It shifts the perspective to the head teacher, Steve, and unfolds over one day in the mid‑1990s at a last‑chance reform school. The plot follows staff and students as they face the possible closure of the institution while Steve struggles with his own mental health. The story is not presented as a factual account of a real person or event. It is fictional but reflects wider social themes. No public record identifies a specific head teacher or real case that directly inspires the narrative.
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What the creator, cast and context say about Steve
Author Max Porter is open about the inspiration behind the book. The story makes use of its mid‑1990s setting, with references such as Tekken, Buffy and the approaching 1997 election. These details create a sense of the time period but also point to issues that continue to affect the UK, including the possible closure of the reform school. Speaking to Esquire on April 13 2023, Porter said,
"It is a book about 1995, that works as a book about now, I hope. I wrote it from a position of absolute horror at the political present. Anybody reading this book now, who is awake, will see what the consequences of a place like Last Chance closing is. When you close youth clubs and social support systems in inner cities, what happens when you strip the welfare state of funding? These things are obvious and terrifying. Where are we? Where are we going?"
His comments make clear that while the story is fictional, it reflects real debates about social support systems and education policy. Cillian Murphy, who both stars in and co‑produces the film, also shares his response. In an interview with Deadline published on February 8, 2024, he says,
"It just broke my heart. They're the sorts of things I love as a reader and as a performer."
These remarks reinforce that the character is created for dramatic effect rather than drawn from a specific real figure.
Steve is developed by Cillian Murphy’s production company Big Things Films. The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and opened in select cinemas on 19 September 2025. The premiere marked Murphy’s first original Netflix feature, and it screened in the festival’s Platform section.
Alongside its theatrical run in the UK, Ireland and the US, Netflix scheduled simultaneous international distribution to reach a wider audience. Netflix confirms a global release on 3 October 2025.
