It’s the kind of trailer that doesn’t just hint at conflict — it lets you feel the weight of every hallway, every closed office door, every breath caught between words. In Steve, Belgian director Tim Mielants (Small Things Like These) reteams with Murphy for a mid-’90s drama that seems determined to make silence as unsettling as any outburst. Premiering at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival this fall, the film arrives in select U.S. theaters on September 19, 2025, before streaming on Netflix from October 3.
Murphy’s Steve isn’t the inspirational movie teacher archetype — he’s tired, fraying, and far too aware that he might not win this fight. His reform school is on the chopping block, the kids are slipping through the cracks, and the system doesn’t even bother hiding its indifference. Parallel to Steve’s battle is Shy (Jay Lycurgo), a teenager whose fragility curdles into violence, unsure if redemption is even in his vocabulary.
What’s striking in the trailer isn’t the overt drama but the quiet — those long, suspended beats where characters seem to decide whether to speak or walk away. Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow’s score hums under it all, a pulse you can almost mistake for the sound of fluorescent lights. It’s an adaptation of Max Porter’s novel Shy, but Mielants seems to treat the source not as a script to honor, but a pulse to translate.
There’s also a festival strategy at play here. TIFF premieres in September often set the tone for awards-season conversation, and while Steve may not scream “Oscar bait,” Netflix has a knack for making its prestige dramas linger in the discourse. Given Murphy’s recent momentum (and yes, the “Small Things” reunion with Mielants), this feels like a deliberately timed autumn entry.
Some moments land hard — the way Murphy grips the desk edge in the staff room, the way Tracey Ullman’s gaze holds longer than polite — while others just ache. Gorgeous. Grating. Gorgeous again. It’s not going to be for everyone, and that’s fine. The trailer suggests a film that doesn’t care about tidy resolutions, which, in a landscape of neatly tied streaming fare, is almost a radical act.
5 Things to Notice in the Steve Trailer
Murphy’s restraint is the hook
Every frame suggests a man holding back — words, emotions, even eye contact.
Shy’s duality feels dangerous
Jay Lycurgo balances menace with fragility, making his arc unpredictable.
The music is more than mood
Salisbury & Barrow’s score threads unease into every scene without overpowering.
Mielants leans on lived-in spaces
Classrooms look scuffed, offices claustrophobic — authenticity over gloss.
TIFF as the launchpad
September 19 theatrical and October 3 streaming drops feel precision-engineered for awards-season relevance.
