The trailer of Tim Mielants's Steve, starring Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, is now out. "Follow one pivotal day for a headteacher and his students, at a last-chance reform school in mid-90s England," says the trailer description, which was released by Netflix.
The movie is an adaptation of Max Porter's 2023 bestseller Shy. The novella is named after its 16-year-old protagonist who goes to a boarding school for troubled boys in England in 1995. The story takes place over the course of a few hours on a single night.
In 2019, Cillian starred in a stage adaptation of Max's book Grief Is the Thing With Feathers which was directed by Enda Walsh. This was about a grief-stricken writer and father of two young boys, who was coming to terms with the death of his wife while writing a book about Ted Hughes.
Cillian has previously collaborated with director Tim on Season 3 of Peaky Blinders and then later on the 2024 film Small Things Like These.
Steve "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,” according to the official logline.
The cast includes Tracey Ullman from The Actor, Top Boy's Simni Ajikawo and Emily Watson who was in The Legend of Ochi and Dune: Pophecy.
The movie will hit select theaters on September 19 and on Netflix on October 3, 2025.