Tim Mielants’ reunion with Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy could not be more different from their previous projects together. Steve, which follows the aforementioned, the head of a crumbling “last chance” reform school for teenage boys, is a very simple story told in a very matter-of-fact way that works because of sensible, grounded performances not just from Murphy, but from a cast of lesser-known actors playing the teenagers.
In many ways, Steve is about the futility of fighting against the system that thinks what you’re doing is not good enough, and the need for spaces such as these, and both feelings come together to take you on a rollercoaster ride. At times, it feels like there’s no helping these kids, not because they can’t be helped, but because circumstances conspire against them and everyone who would try to help them. At others, it feels like Steve and his staff are not just good people, they’re what stands between these teenagers and giving up.
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All of that comes through very clearly in a movie that goes very fast at times, and that does a good job at stopping when it needs to. An adaptation of Max Porter’s bestselling 2023 novella, Shy, the movie doesn’t shy away from the day-to-day problems, including a documentary crew that is ostensibly there to help give the school good promotion, and that instead seems to take a little perverse joy in questioning the need for the place. However, it also doesn’t really go deeply into them. It is, after all, just one day.
Depending on your tolerance level for movies that are just a slice of life, without adding too much backstory to their characters, you will either find Steve a tad frustrating or very effective. Unlike other movies that do the same, however, Steve uses the documentary crew to provide a little context on who everyone, including Steve, is. That helps you relate to more than just the main character. Even as Shy is struggling to communicate or to process a world where his family doesn’t want him, and Jamie is provoking fights, you still like them, because you’re seeing these teenagers as more than archetypes.
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And yet the movie is still what it is, and it’s sending the message you think it is. There are no twists in Steve, other than sometimes, even in the darkest times, the reminder that there are people there for you can be the light that you need when everything seems dark. That, however, doesn’t feel like a twist, as much as it feels like a lesson.
Steve isn’t an easy movie to watch, and it’s not trying to be. But it’s a very well-constructed illustration of the importance of teachers and safe spaces for teenagers—even those who’ve made mistakes. Especially those who’ve made mistakes. And though the subject matter is heavy, Steve is also a reminder to keep trying, even when things seem lost. If you do, you might just find there’s hope, after all.
Steve screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
