We meet Cillian Murphy’s titular character in “Steve” as he’s about to be interviewed on camera. He asks the crew to stop filming him for a moment as he tries to collect himself, but instead the camera pushes in closer as he becomes overtaken by emotional pain.
The moment is a microcosm of the uneven drama set in the mid-1990s at an English school for young men with serious behavioral issues that’s landing this week on Netflix not long after its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Adapted from Max Porter’s bestselling 2023 novella, “Shy,” by the author himself, the film is a kinetic and, at times, claustrophobic experience in the hands of director Tim Mielants. Despite terrific performances by Academy Award-winning “Oppenheimer” star Murphy and several supporting players, “Steve” somehow manages to keep viewers at arm’s length even while trying to pull them in so closely.
“Steve” takes place over the course of about a day in the life of Steve; his second-in-command, Amanda (Tracey Ullman); other staffers; and the troubled students, including the book’s deeply struggling namesake, Shy (Jay Lycurgo). It is an important day, as a local news crew has come to produce a feature on the Stanton Wood reform school, which Steve believes could be beneficial to its mission. After all, it costs British taxpayers about 30,000 pounds — about $47,000 in 1996 — per student annually, and drumming up more public support for the mission certainly wouldn’t hurt.
As we soon see, though, the students are, to put it politely, a handful. The fights that need to be broken up start first thing in the morning, and the lads are all too happy to put on a show for the camera, although that show may not be suitable for a general audience.
When a reporter asks her about her work, about trying to make a difference in the lives of these youths, Amanda first gives her official answer.
“I am part prison guard; I’m part nurse; I’m part battle axe; I’m part mummy,” she says. “Unofficial answer: I (expletive) adore them.”
So does Steve, who grabs one-on-one time with those who need it and desperately tries to get his positive messages through to them. Jamie (Luke Ayres) is a prime example — he’s constantly giving Shy and others a hard time.
Shy, after getting a call from a family member, is having a particularly challenging day, and he lashes out at Jenny (Emily Watson), the counselor who visits Stanton Wood regularly, stopping just short of being violent with her.
Regardless of what some may see as the high cost of trying to make a difference in the lives of these boys, some of whom are likely to land in prison eventually regardless, the staffers are surely underpaid and do not have enough help. It’s wearing on everyone, including Steve, who isn’t using the most ideal ways to cope with the strains of the job and the guilt tied to an event from his past.
Before long, you witness the development that, later in the day, will cause Steve to break down before the aforementioned interview. It’s a gut punch.
Again, this is more powerful work from Murphy, whose relatively recent credits also include “Peaky Blinders” and “A Quiet Place Part II.” As Steve, he constantly strives to put on a brave face and stay positive, but you can see that pain simmering just under the surface and, from time to time, boiling over.
Mostly known for comedic work, Ullman (“The Tracey Ullman Show,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) brings a bit of levity to the proceedings — “Today’s a real cluster-(expletive); there’s no other way around it,” her Amanda declares at the beginning of the morning staff meeting — but delivers a touching performance.
Lastly, all of the young men playing the students at Stanton Wood are so convincing that it’s hard to pick a standout among them. That said, given what is going on with his character, Lycurgo (“The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself”) has to go to a deeper, darker place than the rest, most of whom are asked to do little more than act up and lash out.
Even as your heart breaks for Shy, Steve and the rest, you can feel frustrated that you aren’t drawn into this situation more deeply from an emotional standpoint. Mielants — who also directed Murphy in last year’s well-received “Small Things Like These” — is responsible for some nice touches in “Steve,” but, perhaps, he’s a little too worried about the visual style and not enough about character development.
Most impressively, he finds a way to end “Steve” — a bit draining even at only about 90 minutes — on a couple of optimistic notes, if not in an altogether happy place.
That helps nudge the film into the realm of the recommended, but we’ll understand if you choose to keep it a bit beyond arm’s length.
‘Steve’
Where: Netflix.
When: Oct. 3.
Rated: R for pervasive language, substance abuse and some sexual material.
Runtime: 1 hour, 32 minutes.
Stars (of four): 2.5.
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