Watch Cillian Murphy in a New Trailer for ‘Shy’ Adaptation, ‘Steve’
Cillian Murphy takes the lead in Steve, a new movie based on Max Porter’s bestselling novel Shy. The film tells the story of a head teacher, Steve, who is trying to save his reform school from closing while dealing with his own struggles.
At the same time, one of his students, Shy, played by Jay Lycurgo, faces his own challenges, torn between his past and the future he wants. You can watch the trailer for Steve and see first-look photos from the movie now.
Set in the mid-’90s, Steve is a fresh take on Porter’s Sunday Times bestseller. Murphy plays the head teacher on a critical day at a last-chance reform school, fighting to protect the school while also managing his mental health. Shy, the troubled teen, struggles with self-destructive behavior and violence, trying to find a way forward in a world that has largely abandoned him.
At a reform school in mid-90s England, these lost boys get one last chance.
— Netflix (@netflix) August 13, 2025
Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy and Jay Lycurgo star in STEVE. Coming to select theaters September 19 and on Netflix October 3. pic.twitter.com/BN0Ptij75D
The movie is written by Max Porter and directed by Tim Mielants, who also worked on Small Things Like These. Alan Moloney, Cillian Murphy, and Tina Pawlik are producers, and Porter serves as executive producer. The music is by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow.
The cast also includes Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, and Emily Watson. The film offers a close look at two people whose lives are connected by the pressures of the school and the hardships they face inside and outside its walls.
“You travel back to England in the mid-’90s, to a reform school where lost boys get one more chance,” Tudum explains.
Fans can check out the trailer for a first look at the story, and the photo gallery gives glimpses of the cast, including Murphy, Lycurgo, Ullman, and Ajikawo, and the world of the film.
Steve will appear at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall, play in select theaters in the US, UK, and Ireland, and will premiere globally on Netflix on October 3.
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