REVIEW: ‘Steve’ Is Real, Sensitive, And Dull

Steve (2025) is a Netflix Original drama about a last-chance boarding school, Stanton Wood. It’s full of teenage boys and their teachers who truly and deeply care for them, despite all of their baggage. Cillian Murphy stars as the titular Steve alongside Tracey Ullman in this Tim Mielants-directed, Max Porter-penned look at a particularly difficult 24 hours at the school. A news crew is filming with very little sensitivity, and one of the students, Shy (Jay Lycurgo), receives life-changing news. Meanwhile, the board of trustees is also about to pay a visit.

From the start, the genuine care and affection Steve has for his students is apparent. It’s in the way he talks to them, the way he looks at them, and the way he takes true interest in their personhood. Stanton Wood is built on a “progressive” pedagogy that aims to treat the whole student. They’re meant to write diaries and have private sessions with the instructors so they build trust with one another. The school actively seeks to diminish the punitive repercussions of their violence, whereas any other place of instruction would simply have the boys arrested.

Steve (2025) manages to avoid many of the stereotypes of its genre.

Steve (2025) manages to avoid feeling cheeky as it portrays the inner workings of the school. Yes, these students call the instructors by their first names while they take courses in very liberal subjects, but they also take their work very seriously. There are rigorous conversations between instructors and real consequences to the boys’ actions when they step out of line. Steve may be losing his grip on a lot of things, but the seriousness with which he takes his role running this school is not one of them.

Steve, however, is also clearly unwell. Again, not usually in a stereotypical way, where he is having breakdowns at inappropriate times in front of students or constantly sneaking illicit drugs or alcohol. His condition is well known to his colleagues, and perhaps even his students, who offer him the same level of genuine support that he provides them. Even as things start to break down for him, his character isn’t compromised. The camera does, however, start to get cutesy, suddenly turning upside down a time or two too many.

The students at Stanton Wood are painted rather holistically.

For as genuine as Steve is and as much as the movie shines a light on the complicated nature of the teenage boys in his care, the students are also painted rather holistically. Most of the time spent with them is spent watching them feign machismo in front of the news cameras or beating each other up. But now and then, you catch a glimpse of their personalities. They’ll share their hopes and dreams, or you’ll see a look on their faces that betrays their fear and loneliness.

Showing the fullness of the boys’ experiences is not only necessary for making them feel like real characters but also essential to giving Steve (2025) a semblance of purpose. The movie has endearing characters, but the loose plot is unfortunately dull. The types of scenarios and conversations that take place quickly become repetitive. Nobody has a goal they’re working towards, and all the conflicts that arise will remain unresolved since the movie only takes place over a single day.

Steve (2025) doesn’t have enough of a plot to keep it engaging.

Without a true central plot to follow, the characters aren’t enough to keep Steve (2025) engaging. It also leaves the movie feeling like it lacks a message sophisticated enough to match its layered evaluation of its characters. Yes, the movie clearly wants audiences to rethink how they perceive teenagers who would be deemed delinquents or outcasts. But countless movies have tried to say that over the generations. What sets this one apart from all of the rest?

Steve (2025) is a bit dull, and its ending becomes more stereotypical than the movie deserves, but at least, on its base-most level, it is effective. The connection between the adults and teenagers becomes infectious. You will feel for them too, even if you’re left unsure how to help them.

Steve (2025) is streaming now on Netflix.