Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy is set to star in Netflix’s new drama Steve. Based on Max Porter’s bestselling novel Shy, Steve tells the story of a head teacher facing the impending closure of the reform school where he works, told in parallel with the struggle of one of his students (Jay Lycurgo).
About Steve:
Set in the mid-’90s, the film is a reimagining of Max Porter’s Sunday Times bestseller Shy. The film follows a pivotal day in the life of head teacher Steve (Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy) and his students at a last-chance reform school amid a world that has forsaken them. As he fights to protect the school’s integrity and prevent its impending closure, he grapples with his own mental health. In parallel to his 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.

Written by Max Porter and directed by Tim Mielants (Small Things Like These), the film also stars Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, and Emily Watson. It is produced by Alan Moloney, Cillian Murphy, and Tina Pawlik, with Porter serving as executive producer, and features music by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow.
Steve will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will hit select theaters in the US, UK, and Ireland this fall. The film arrives globally on Netflix on October 3.