Steve (15)
Directed by Tim Mielants
★★★★

SET in 1996 in a last-chance reform school for troubled teenagers who British society has written off, this powerful and gritty drama examines the devotion of teachers and those who refuse to give up on youngsters who are thought to be beyond help. 

Directed by Tim Mielants, it is based on Max Porter’s bestselling 2023 novella Shy which he adapted for the big screen. It follows a pivotal 24 hours in the life of this institution’s headteacher Steve (Cillian Murphy) and his students. A film crew arrives to interview the teenage boys and the staff, as well as filming inside the school, when Steve suddenly learns that the owners have decided to close it down in six months’ time. 

Also, a  pompous local Tory MP comes to meet the students to inform them about his work in Westminster and how he has saved them from communism. All hell breaks loose when 17-year-old Shy (a phenomenal Jay Lycurgo) asks him measuredly and with a straight face how he is such a “c**t” sparking “c**tgate.”

Reuniting with Mielants, Murphy, who also produced the film, gives another powerhouse performance as a headteacher who is desperately fighting to keep his school open while battling mental health issues and trying to help his students, many of whom are aggressive and violent, although he sees the potential and the good in all of them. 

Lycurgo holds his own impressively opposite Murphy as Shy who is given to violent outbursts and is dealing with his own emotional struggles which he refuses to divulge to anyone. The rest of the young supporting case are equally outstanding. 

This is a hard-hitting drama, which at times feels like you are watching a documentary as it pulls no punches, that shows the boys beating each other up and being aggressive with the staff, and in particular the school’s therapist (Emily Watson). It is very difficult to watch at times. 

Despite the continual financial cutbacks by the Tories, Steve and his dwindling staff including his deputy head (Tracy Ullman), working on a shoestring, do their utmost to assist and provide the care and education that these teenage boys need and should be entitled to as the film heads to its explosive finale.

This is a definite must-see.

In select cinemas September 19/on Netflix from October 3.