TORONTO – The “Steve” in question in Tim Mielants‘ new drama is having a terrible, horrible, no good, bad day. It’s 1996, and Steve, portrayed by a passionate Cillian Murphy, works at an untraditional boarding home for troubled teenage boys in the English countryside. On this particular day, or perhaps every single day, the students scream and shout and get in fights and do not let their teachers have a moment to breathe or collect themselves. And that’s telegraphed within the first 10 minutes.
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Complicating matters is the arrival of a news crew shooting a feature story of the school. The students are so out of control that the reporter and producer almost immediately realize they cannot use half of their b-roll footage. Coincidentally, another bombshell drops before lunch is even served. The independent trust that has provided funding for this program and a former estate for its use (the news crew refers to it as “luxury,” it’s nothing but) informs Steve and his colleagues, Amanda (Tracey Ullman) and Andy (Youssef Kerkour), that they have sold the manor. There is no warning. There is no transition period. The school will need to leave the premises in six months, in the middle of the next school year. Steve, who already had a monstrous amount of stress on his shoulders, is so overwhelmed that he begins to pop painkillers, opioids, and swig bottles of alcohol he’s hidden throughout the facility.
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The students, who are less of the story than you might think, are profiled in sit-down interviews conducted by the television crew, but only a few earn more than superficial introductions. Those moments happen in counseling sessions conducted by Jenny (Emily Watson), a tough and stern therapist who knows the kids better than they want to admit. Most of the boys are loud and angry, but conspicuously, there is the somewhat demure Shy (Jay Lycurgo) (or perhaps that’s just how it seems compared to the rest of the hooligans in the building).
Like the name he’s chosen for himself, Shy is quiet, mostly listening to drum’n’bass cassettes on his walkman. And on this momentous day, he has also experienced a bombshell: his mother has tearfully told him that moving forward, they will no longer visit or speak to him by phone. They are cutting him off, and despite being aware of the unruly behavior that found him at the school, he is shocked. Sounds intriguing, no? It’s not. Despite Lycurgo’s almost Herculean efforts to transcend the material, neither this character nor his storyline is groundbreaking. You’ve seen it so many times before. And yet, the novella “Steve” is based on is actually titled “Shy” and centers on this particular character. Why Max Porter, who wrote both the book and screenplay, decided to make the British teacher the focal point of the movie is head-scratching. Not that we think it would have made a difference.
“Steve’s” biggest problem is that Mielants, who collaborated with Murphy last year on the Irish drama “Small Things Like These,” completely over-directs the movie. First off, the attempt at a filter to make the sit-downs look like they were shot on real analog video is just terrible and distracting. You could find a better period-accurate filter on TikTok. Moreover, Mielants’ use of sweeping, continuous drone shots and dependence on hand-held cameras (which gives more late ’00s than ’90s) to a UK techno soundtrack makes you wonder if he was too inspired by Danny Boyle’s “Trainspotting,” which was released, you guessed it, in 1996. Even that drug-fueled thriller let its characters and events breathe more than “Steve” does.
This aesthetic, combined with the fact that, again, the kids never stop for a minute, strains credibility. Their fighting and yelling, and more fighting and insults, and arguments never seem to end. At one point, in one of the television interviews, Amanda says she puts up with it all because she just loves the students. I’m sorry, what? The movie barely hints at any reason why she would. Is the film depicting the worst day in weeks? Steve, Amanda, and Jenny act as though their behavior is like this every day. You simply start to wonder if any of this is sustainable and, hey, maybe the school should shut down anyway.
Throughout it all, Murphy, Ullman, Lycurgo, Watson, and Simbi Ajikawo, portraying Shola, a relatively recent addition to the teaching staff, do their best to bring gravitas and accountability to their performances. And they are talented enough that you want to root for them. But then Mielants and Porter end the film in a manner that is almost offensive to the audience. This isn’t about providing a spotlight for kids with behavioral issues or the professionals who commit their lives to them; it’s melodrama for melodrama’s sake, with an awkward attempt at a “happy ending” that is borderline cringe.
That being said, if “Steve” convinces other filmmakers to cast Ullman in more dramatic roles and to give Lycurgo a shot at something that truly showcases his talents? Well, that’s something, I guess. But, less of this, please. [C-/D]
“Steve” releases in select theaters on Sept 19 and launches on Netflix on Oct. 3.
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