The official trailer forStevehas arrived. In addition to being Cillian Murphy’s first movie for Netflix,Steveis only his second movie after his Oscar-winning performance in2023’sOppenheimer, afterSmall Things Like These. The feature was directed bySmall Things Like These’s Tim Mielants from a screenplay by Max Porter adapting his own novella, 2023’sShy.
The movie, which also stars Jay Lycurgo, Emily Watson, Simbi Ajikawo, and Tracey Ullman, follows the title character Steve (Murphy), who isthe headteacher of a British reform school in the 1990s. It takes place over the course of a single day that could change everything.
Netflixhas now unveiledthe official trailer forSteve. It opens with a scene where characters are asked to describe themselves in three words. Steve himself says “very very tired,” but one of his students says “angry and bored,” highlighting the disparity between the students and staff that is the core emotional throughline of the movie.
After showing Steve attempting to connect with various students, the trailer introduces Shy (Lycurgo). As Steve tries to get through to him,he is reaching the limit of his own mental healthand his relationship to substances. The trailer then uses the chaos of a fire alarm to visually and sonically underscore how overwhelmed the character is.
Check out the full trailer below:
What This Means For Steve
AlthoughStevesees its lead star making a Netflix project for the first time, theCillian Murphy moviefinds the star entirely in his element. In fact,the closing scenes of the trailer have a similar evocative power to a moment inOppenheimerwhere his character is overwhelmed by guilt amid a cheering crowd.
InOppenheimer, Cillian Murphy portrayed J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped invent the atomic bomb.
The fact that the stakes ofSteveare much lower than nuclear war should make Cillian Murphy’s performance shine all the more, becauseit will allow him to bring that level of intensity and pathos to a much smaller storywith a more domestic scope.
Our Take On The Steve Trailer
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the trailer is something that was hinted at by the project’s changed title.The lead character of the movie is Steve himselfrather than Shy, who was the protagonist of the novella. Though the dynamic between the two characters is still central to the story, theOppenheimerstaris more front and center.
This change may have been made in order to center the Oscar-winning actor who took on the role. However, the trailer makes it seem equally likely thatStevewill act as a companion piece toShy, with both works adding more detail to the story thanks to telling it from two different perspectives.
