Cillian Murphy plays impassioned headteacher in trailer for Netflix drama Steve

By Hannah Roberts, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Oscar-winning Irish actor Cillian Murphy plays the impassioned headteacher of a last-chance reform school in a trailer for Netflix film Steve.

Set in the mid 1990s and directed by Tim Mielants, the movie follows a pivotal day in the life of Steve (Murphy) and his students, who exist in a world that has abandoned them.

The drama is a reimagining of Max Porter’s Sunday Times bestseller Shy, named after its protagonist, a teenager who boards at the school with a programme for troubled youths.

The trailer shows Murphy’s character describing himself to a film crew as “very, very tired” amid clips of violence among pupils.

In a voiceover, he adds: “These are extraordinarily complex young people.”

Other scenes sees Steve speaking to Shy, drinking an unknown substance from a small transparent bottle, and screaming while clenching his fists.

I May Destroy You star Jay Lycurgo plays Shy, a troubled teenager who needs to reconcile with his past and control his impulses for self-destruction and violence.

The movie shows Shy’s interactions with Steve, who in turn is grappling with his mental health as he fights to protect the school from closure.

Supporting cast include Tracey Ullman and Emily Watson, who starred with Murphy in the Irish drama Small Things Like These.

Cork-born Murphy (49), who is a producer for Steve, won a Bafta and Oscar last year for his title role in Christopher Nolan’s epic, Oppenheimer.

He plays Birmingham gangster Tommy Shelby in TV hit series Peaky Blinders, which is being turned into a film for Netflix which will also star Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan.

Steve is in select cinemas from September 19th and on Netflix from October 3rd.