Steve

The star and director of Small Things Like These re-team, with Tim Mielants directing Cillian Murphy as Steve in this adaptation of Max Porter’s bestselling novella Shy. Murphy plays the headmaster of a reform school, a last hope for kids society refuses to deal with. Even the narrow chance it offers is fading. Both Steve and his pupil Shy (Jay Lycurgo) must reckon with the reality of the school’s closure, and the personal precipices they both stand on the edge of.

Told across one day in the mid-90s, Steve is an utterly compelling character study that creates a whole lifetime from the way its characters struggle through a daily grind. Cillian Murphy is as adept as ever at conveying infinite depths from the slightest of looks, but he’s also matched by a surprising supporting cast including comedian Tracey Ullman and musician Little Simz.