Steve: Release date, plot, cast, and more about the upcoming Cillain Murphy film

Netflix's Steve is a drama film written by Max Porter based on his 2023 novel Shy. It is directed by Belgian filmmaker Tim Mielants and stars Oscar-winning Cillian Murphy in the lead role.

The film is Mielants and Murphy's latest collaboration after the 2024 film Small Things Like These, which revolved around the infamous Magdalene laundries in Ireland and is based on Claire Keegan's novel. With Steve, Mielants works on another novel's adaptation, joining hands with Porter, known widely for his 2015 novella, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers.

The film stars Murphy as a headteacher who's in charge of students in a last-chance reform school. Apart from him, the cast also includes Jay Lycurgo, Simbi Ajikawo (rapper Little Simz), Tracey Ullman, Emily Watson, and more.

When is Cillian Murphy's Steve releasing?

Steve is all set to premiere on October 3, 2025, on Netflix. It was filmed reportedly from May to July 2024 in the UK, and Bath, Somerset, served as one of its locations.

The film is produced by Cillian Murphy and Alan Moloney's independent, story-driven Big Things Films banner. It marks Murphy's next project with Porter, who has previously worked on the stage play based on Grief Is the Thing with Feathers. Murphy also starred in the 2021 short film All of This Unreal Time, which was written by Porter.

What is the Cillian Murphy-starrer Steve about? Here's what we know

The latest Cillian Murphy starrer will be a reimagining of a Max Porter novel. Its official plot synopsis, per IMDb, reads:

"Follows headteacher Steve battling for his reform college's survival while managing his mental health. Concurrently, troubled student Shy navigates his violent tendencies and fragility, torn between his past and future prospects."

Back in February 2024, Murphy spoke with Deadline about what led him to work on the adaptation of Porter's Shy.

"Max gave me that book in a proof edition before he finished it, and again it just broke my heart. They’re the sorts ofthings I love as a reader and as a performer, so I really wanted to do something with him."

Unlike the novel, the main character in the film is a headteacher instead of a student. Murphy revealed that it was Porter's idea to change the perspective. He also spoke about their special creative approach that brought Porter's poetic vision to life.

"It was Max’s idea to change the perspective and flip it around to the headteacher who runs this institution. Myself and Alan and Max got on a call and we started to turn it around in our heads and it seemed like we could make a film out of it. The same events happen, we’re just looking at them through a different lens. And I love films that happen in real time — this all happens in 24 hours so there’s immediately sort of an intense pressure on the characters — and then Alan gave it to Netflix."