Netflix has released the first image and full cast list for Steve, a new film starring Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy. The film opens in select cinemas this September before its streaming debut on Netflix on October 3, 2025. Directed by Tim Mielants and written by Max Porter, Steve adapts Porter’s Sunday Times bestselling novel Shy, reimagined for the screen.
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Set in the mid-1990s, the story follows Steve, a headteacher at a last-chance reform school. Cillian Murphy plays the lead role, portraying a man navigating the pressure of saving his school from closure while contending with his own mental instability. The film takes place over a single day, capturing the emotional strain of leadership and the isolation that comes with it.
The narrative also introduces Shy, played by Jay Lycurgo, a student whose turmoil mirrors Steve’s. Caught in a cycle of self-destruction, Shy attempts to balance fragility and anger as he tries to imagine a future beyond his past. Their stories unfold in parallel, moving through a charged atmosphere of vulnerability and defiance.
Alongside Murphy and Lycurgo, the film features Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, and Emily Watson in key supporting roles. Additional cast members include Douggie McMeekin, Youssef Kerkour, Luke Ayres, Joshua J Parker, Araloyin Oshunremi, Tut Nyuot, Tom Moya, Ahmed Ismail, Joshua Barry, Archie Fisher, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Priyanga Burford, George Fouracres, Marcus Garvey, Ruby Ashbourne-Serkis, and Roger Allam.
Max Porter, who wrote both the screenplay and the original novel, serves as executive producer. Alan Moloney, Cillian Murphy, and Tina Pawlik produced the film. Music comes from Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, whose previous collaborations include Ex Machina and Annihilation.
Steve follows Murphy’s recent success with Oppenheimer and marks another collaboration between the actor and director Tim Mielants, known for their work together on Peaky Blinders. With a focus on institutional failure, personal crisis, and the tensions between discipline and empathy, the film promises to deliver a story anchored in emotional urgency without relying on sentimentality.
Steve releases in cinemas in September and will stream on Netflix beginning October 3, 2025.
