6.8
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Steve (2025)
Steve (2025)
Overview
Steve is a 2025 drama directed by Tim Mielants, adapting Max Porter's novella Shy. Cillian Murphy stars as Steve, headteacher at a reform school for troubled youth facing closure, while grappling with his mental health over a chaotic day. Jay Lycurgo plays student Shy, with Tracey Ullman as Amanda.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
NetflixRating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Progressive
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: High
Family Values: Leans Progressive
Viewer Rating
6.8
Overview
Steve is a 2025 drama directed by Tim Mielants, adapting Max Porter's novella Shy. Cillian Murphy stars as Steve, headteacher at a reform school for troubled youth facing closure, while grappling with his mental health over a chaotic day. Jay Lycurgo plays student Shy, with Tracey Ullman as Amanda.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
NetflixDetailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Progressive
Primary
The film's portrayal of a reform school's abrupt closure without consultation and the headteacher's fight to aid discarded youth highlights systemic failures in social support, driving a left-leaning emphasis on welfare for vulnerable populations.
The film recasts the key student character Shy from white in the source material to Black, alongside a diverse ensemble portraying troubled youth and staff at a reform school. It addresses institutional inequities affecting vulnerable individuals through subtle systemic critique, while centering compassion in interpersonal dynamics without overt attacks on traditional identities.
Secondary
Biological family bonds fracture under abandonment and dysfunction, yielding to the reform school's surrogate kinship that redeems through communal care and authority.
The film features no identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. Its narrative centers on a reform school for troubled boys, exploring masculinity and mental health without addressing queer identity or experiences.
No transsexual characters or themes appear in the film. The story examines mental health and behavioral issues among male students and staff at a boys' boarding school, as seen in the arc of troubled teen Shy navigating regret and uncertainty.
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
The film portrays headteacher Steve and student Shy as male characters, consistent with their depictions in the source novella, with no instances of gender swaps for established roles.
Steve adapts Max Porter's novella Shy, in which the protagonist Shy and headteacher Steve lack specified racial identities. Portraying Shy with a Black actor and Steve with a white actor introduces no mismatch with any canonical depictions.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
6.4
6.4
Critic Ratings
7.8
6.6
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