Steve

Wow, I'm incredibly impressed by these minimal yet super important stories that Cillian Murphy and his director Tim Mielants (after Small Things like These in 2024) are putting forward. It won't be wrong to call this a very desolate piece (particularly on the declining state of mental health), but it's also very character-focused, performance-driven, and visually enticing. Murphy's close-ups tell one story, but the film is not his alone. Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo (what an actor, good lord!), Little Simz, Emily Watson, and the rest of the young cast -- y'all deserve a standing ovation! The film traces a pivotal 24 hours in the lives of those at Stanton Wood, a correction school. There's always so much going on, but all the torn-up fragments are cleverly brought together by having a documentary/news crew visiting the site, interviewing the staff and students, giving insights into each of the main characters. Another subplot regarding the school's future unfolds backstage, adding to the staff's (particularly Steve's) woes.

Murphy's Oscar win is probably helping him give life (and funding) to passion projects like this, and he continues to put on incredible performances that are worthy of deeper study. I absolutely found the equation between Steve and the students to be riveting; we sometimes get scenes or snippets of Steve's interactions with each one of them, and it effortlessly becomes clear how much he cares. Only the audiences get to see Steve boozing on the job, because he's clearly having a worse day compared to the rest. At one point, we even see him hallucinate out of exhaustion, helplessness, and relentless negativity around him. DP Robrecht Heyvaert (a frequent collaborator Adil & Bilal, Bad Boys 3 & 4) mostly uses close-ups to capture the dramatic intensity, but there's one (drone?) shot that moves from space to space within the compound that describes the school's state of beautifully piled-up chaos.

Films about teachers that sacrifices a lot for their students were popular much more in the nineties, as I remember, but still, it is a sub-genre for the drama genre. It is much more interesting to check out a movie with this kind of plot, once Cillian Murphy is in it. Even if it is Netflix's property.

Cillian Murphy is a special type of actor, that takes extra-large projects but keeps a room in his heart and in his schedule for almost Indy type of movies. This one is based on a novel, that was originally made of a side character in this movie - Shy. He is the supporting character in this movie, but an important one.

This movie demonstrates how a small staff of teachers handles young and problematic youth, that should be in prison. The challenge is to keep them safe, help them find their potential and fulfill it. On the days we, the audience, get a glimpse of how this place runs, a camera crew enters the establishment and picks in all of their lives.

The usage of Tim Mielants in the camera team is not good enough, there is a scene, that demonstrates how this team invade one of the students personal space, but nothing is developed from there. It is mainly to show just another angle of how those guys see this place and the people that inhabit it.

The disrespect of the environment in this educational institution will get another turn, that will make the main character lose his good temper, but the main failure of this movie to be really outstanding is that except Shy, no one from the students made me feel for him or to have any empathy at all.

We watch a staff of un-orthodox teachers, that tries un-orthodox method of teaching in an un-orthodox institution, but no actual results that convinces the audience that it is a story of success. The teachers are taking night shifts like prison guards and loves their students, but no change is actually being demonstrated to the viewers.

The bottom line is that I identified more with the characters that wants to close this school and not with the teachers, which sacrifices their private lives and families (that are nowhere to be seen, except somewhere towards the end of the movie). Having said all of that, it was still a fine crafted movie with personal highs from Cillian Murphy and especially young Jay Lycurgo.

Another good production of Netflix, that goes to waste between a hundred others. Great cast and performances but missing a little bit more to make it shine brighter and actually be brilliant.

Though Cillian Murphy takes top billing and turns in a visceral effort in the title role, this is really a formidable ensemble effort as he leads a small group to teachers in what seems to be a constant rearguard action with some of the most unruly teenagers you'll ever see. Helped out by his deputy "Amanda" (Tracey Ullman) and self-medicating regularly, he has the added pressure of a local BBC television crew coming to do a piece on the place; the local MP is also coming to get in on that action and the local council are also along this day to tell them all that the school's future - at around £30k p.a. Per pupil, is making the whole enterprise increasingly unfeasible. Our first glimpse of the residents sees us meet "Shy" (Jay Lycurgo) who is dancing about in a field slowly getting "baked" at 10am! Then there's "Jamie" (Luke Ayres). Larger than life in every sense and sharp enough to wind up just about everyone else; "Riley" (Joshua J. Parker) is akin to the Duracell Bunny only at ten times the speed. "Shola" (Little Simz) is the newbie teacher and Emily Watson's "Jenny" tries to fathom out the psychology of their erratic behaviour. They are all foul-mouthed, violent and obnoxious, sure - but they are all also bright; they fight and brawl but there is loyalty amongst them, affection even. Each character gets their moment under the spotlight, but essentially we focus on "Steve" - a man who has demons of his own and on "Shy" whose behaviour has left his mum and stepfather to cut all ties with the lad. You get the sense that both men are in a very similar boat, only one of them wears a tie and the other some orange-foam headphones - and both deliver emotionally-charged performances. Ullman is strong and sympathetic in support to just about everyone and there is a unifying cameo from Roger Allam who plays the typically pompous and condescending MP "Montague-Powell" (pronounced "Pole") who, like all but those who actually lived in this rapidly dilapidating stately pile, had little idea of just what went on here, and of just how crucial this infrastructure was in offering a semblance of hope, security and consistency to young men who's lucidity ebbed and flowed as readily as the tides we see so often on the poster on the wall. The last few minutes remind us, powerfully, that these staff are professional people who must try to balance the demands of their careers with those of their personal lives, and the clever use of a tape recorder to serve as an aide-memoir to "Steve" has a double benefit of also helping the audience to appreciate just how stressful all of their lives were. No matter just how futile their efforts frequently appeared to be, these were not people inclined to give up - regardless of the sacrifices they would routinely and repeatedly have to make. The kids? Well the acting on display here is natural, entertaining, chilling and acrobatic all whilst offering us a sense of their vulnerability, their loneliness and their inter-dependence - for all their bravado and practical jokes. It's a breakneck piece of cinema that serves to make us realise that there can be no price put on their vocational skills nor on the provision of "care" for these people whom society at large would doubtless consider a threat and who would almost certainly incarcerate them. It's a very tricky subject to get across with integrity, but I think this does make you sit up and think - and laugh occasionally, too.

Good to see Netflix showing this visceral uncommercial piece. Cillian Murphy eschews his pretty boy persona to get to grips with portraying a caring involved principal of a challenging college for difficult youth. It's set in the 90's. It really could have been twice as long . The stress and complexities will ring true for teachers who care enough to try to deal with our societies failures: people with difficulties with mental health and unacceptable failures who would end up in prison or worse. Not only does he have all this to deal with but also has a historical trauma of his own. The ending is somewhat compressed and really could have been extended but all in all a worthy effort that draws you in .

Steve, portrayed brilliantly by Cillian Murphy, had something to say - he just didn't know how to express it.

The film tries to depict a single day in a linear way, yet its psychological segments disrupt that structure.

Still, the core idea is remarkable - thoughtful and original.

It begins strong and ends strong, but the middle feels confusing, leaving the audience waiting for something that never quite comes.

The cinematography is stunning, though at times a bit exaggerated.

In the end, Murphy's performance deserves a standing ovation.