Steve Trailer: Cillian Murphy As A Headteacher At Reform School, Grapples With Mental Health

After his stellar act in Oppenheimer (2023), Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy will be seen in the Netflix drama, Steve, where he will be seen in a totally different avatar. Steve, directed by Tim Mielants, is based on Max Porter's novel Shy. Porter has also written the script along with Mielants. For the unversed, Mielants and Murphy had earlier worked together on Season 3 of Peaky Blinders and the 2024 film Small Things Like These.

Murphy is playing the titular character, and Jay Lycurgo is portraying Shy. The other cast members include Tracy Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, and Emily Watson.

According to the official logline, Steve is set in the mid-’90s and it "follows a pivotal day in the life of headteacher Steve (Murphy) and his students at a last-chance reform school amidst a world that has forsaken them. As Steve fights to protect the school’s integrity and impending closure, we witness him grappling 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."

Watch Steve trailer here.

Steve is produced by Murphy and Alan Moloney's Big Things Films, and Tina Pawlik, with Porter serving as an executive producer. Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow are the music composers of the film.

Cillian Murphy starrer releases in select cinemas in the US, UK, and Ireland, on September 19, and will premiere on Netflix on October 3. Before that, it will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) next month.

Murphy told Deadline that his role in Steve is "one of the most kind of exposing and terrifying characters" he has ever played.