After his Oscar-winning performance in “Oppenheimer”, Cillian Murphy could have been forgiven for settling into a career as a Hollywood leading man, said Wendy Ide in The Observer. Instead, he has opted to appear in a string of bold indie films, the latest of which is “Steve”, a “gripping and exhausting” drama set on a single day in 1996, and adapted by Max Porter from his own novella.
Murphy plays Steve, the dedicated but frazzled head teacher at “a last-chance” boarding school for “delinquent, damaged teenage boys” in rural England. Steve is battling personal demons, and at work setbacks pile up “on top of disasters”: for starters, a news crew has arrived to shoot a local-interest segment, which has made the boys even harder to control than usual.
To make matters worse, a pompous Tory MP (Roger Allam) has popped in for a photo op. When Steve learns that the council plans to close the school down within six months, events spiral into chaos. “A work of some integrity”, said Donald Clarke in The Irish Times, the film aims to show “how society deals with young men on the brink of social exclusion”. But while its agitated camerawork and overlapping dialogue are no doubt designed to communicate “the challenge of too few people” trying to solve too many problems, it ends up dividing the viewer’s attention, making the characters “come across as mere sketches”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yet the cast is outstanding, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. Tracey Ullman turns up as the deputy head; Jay Lycurgo is superb as a particularly troubled student; and Murphy delivers one of his most “uninhibited and demonstrative” performances to date. Suffused with “gonzo energy” and moments of “bizarre black humour”, “Steve” is an impressive effort.
-
‘National dynamics will likely be the tipping point’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Two men accused of plotting LGBTQ+ attacksSpeed Read The men were arrested alongside an unidentified minor
-
Israel arrests ex-IDF legal chief over abuse video leakSpeed Read Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi had resigned from her post last week
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
-
6 trailside homes for hikersFeature Featuring a roof deck with skyline views in California and a home with access to private trails in Montana
-
Lazarus: Harlan Coben’s ‘embarrassingly compelling’ thrillerThe Week Recommends Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin play father-and-son psychiatrists in this ‘precision-engineered’ crime drama
-
The Rose Field: a ‘nail-biting’ end to The Book of Dust seriesThe Week Recommends Philip Pullman’s superb new novel brings the trilogy to a ‘fitting’ conclusion
-
Nigerian Modernism: an ‘entrancing, enlightening exhibition’The Week Recommends Tate Modern’s ‘revelatory’ show includes 250 works examining Nigerian art pre- and post independence
-
The Mastermind: Josh O’Connor stars in unconventional art heist movieThe Week Recommends Kelly Reichardt cements her status as the ‘queen of slow cinema’ with her latest film
-
Critics’ choice: Watering holes for gourmandsFeature An endless selection of Mexican spirits, a Dublin-inspired bar, and an upscale Baltimore pub
