REVIEW: STEVE

4/5

Adolescence 

92 Mins. Starring: Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo & Emily Watson. Screenplay: Max Porter. Director: Tim Mielants. On: Netflix.

Outstanding as 'Oppenheimer', Oscar winner Cillian Murphy ('28 Days Later', 'Batman Begins', 'A Quiet Place Part II') gives us even more dark depths as 'Steve' on Netflix, reuniting with 'Peaky Blinders' director Tim Mielants ('Patrick', 'Wil', and 'Small Things Like These', also with Murphy). Based on the 'Shy' novella by the brilliant Max Porter (the 'Grief Is A Thing With Feathers' author also penned this script), 'Steve' is a tired and troubled teacher at the head of a school that serves as a society for boys with behavioural difficulties. Battling his own demons of addiction, Murphy's law and disorder in education is comparative to a compelling salad days look at Ryan Gosling in 'Half Nelson'. As a matter of fact, with the distance in those vast, old Hollywood blue eyes, and the greying of his overgrown beard, the 'Inception' and 'Dunkirk' actor could play Thom Yorke if they ever do a Radiohead biography (how about 'Anima's' Paul Thomas Anderson?). And you just know Jonny Greenwood ('One Battle After Another', 'Phantom Thread') would make the music.

Yet, this school of thought, that takes a bleak, blank stare at the issues of mental health in its awareness, is more than the 'Sunshine' and Shelby star. Or 'Peaky' blinding like symbolic scenes awash next to the laundry and a tumble dryer, caked in mud. British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, director, and author Tracey Ullman gives her absolute all in a deputy role that should have Best Supporting Actress engraved all over it. The 'Black Doves' star stole the show in the last season of Larry David's classic 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', like she will do in the forthcoming fourth one of the hugely popular 'Ted Lasso'. But she is no laughing matter here, what more could you expect from someone who played Mother Nature herself in 'I Could Never Be Your Woman'. Holding her own against fellow great Brit, Emily Watson ('Punch-Drunk Love', 'The Theory Of Everything' and 'Small Things'), whose Hollywood stock, at least on the small screen, has risen considerably thanks to the HBO likes of 'Chernobyl' and the 'Dune: Prophecy' spin-off series lead.

Little Simz herself (who absolutely rocked Fuji Rock festival here in Japan this summer, can we just say?), Simbi Ajikawo, is also a terrific teacher. The 'Sometimes I Might Be An Introvert' singer and Netflix 'Top Boy' revival star has also acted as herself in Marvel's 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage'. But THIS is her movie moment. With that being said, this Platform Prize section performing film at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, in select UK and US cinemas, will leave you streaming when it comes to Jay Lycurgo's (Netflix's 'The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself') Shy student carrying rocks that he throws for more than just his love of geology. The ground is shifting beneath his young feet, and the man who has played both Tim Drake in 'Titans' and a gang member in 'The Batman' is brilliant at displaying the bracing and brutal angst adolescents face. As a matter of fact, this school and social education of the dark corners of the United Kingdom's systems is comparable to the Emmy winning shock of 'Adolescence'. As dangerous as the minds Michelle Pfeiffer dealt with, or a Samuel L. Jackson '187' call. Minds that shouldn't be ignored, or merely called mad. The anger comes from somewhere, and an extended hand does much more than a clenched fist. 'Steve' reaches out. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Adolescence', 'Half Nelson', 'Peaky Blinders'.