How to watch Steve in New Zealand
It’s a bad day in Borstal in this new drama starring Cillian Murphy.
One thing we love about Cillian Murphy: when he’s not starring in Oscar-feted, box office-busting behemoths more often than not directed by Christopher Nolan, he spends his time starring in small scale, quietly devastating social dramas, of which this seems to be the latest example.
How to watch Steve in New Zealand
Steve is streaming in New Zealand exclusively on Netflix from October 3, 2025.
What is Steve about?
Based on the 2023 novella Shy by Max Porter, who also wrote the screenplay, and directed by Tim Mielants (Small Things Like These, which boasts another amazing performance from Murphy), Steve sees Murphy as our titular protagonist—a guy who runs a last chance reform school of extremely at-risk youth. He’s under-staffed, under-funded, and under incredible pressure, especially on a day when a news crew is coming to document the institution, and a local politician has decided it’ll make for a good photo op.
Thurst into this scenario is troubled youth Shy, a new inductee, whose largely hidden trauma might make an outsize impact if it’s not addressed promptly.
The cast of Steve
Cillian Murphy is Steve; Tracey Ullman is Amanda, his second in command; Jay Lycurgo is Shy; Simbi Ajikawo is the vindictive inmate Shola; Emily Watson is Jenny; with Douggie McMeekin, Youssef Kerkour, Luke Ayres, Joshua J Parker, Araloyin Oshunremi, Tut Nyuot, Tom Moya, Ahmed Ismail and Joshua Barry in support.
Steve trailer
Why we’re excited about Steve
If you saw Small Things Like These, you’ll know that Cillian Murphy and Tim Mielants are a simply fantastic combination of performer and director—the Belgian director drawing subtle, nuanced work from his leading man. But the thing we’re really curious about is how Max Porter’s book, an impressionistic, subjective narrative told from Shy’s point of view, translates to the more conventional story demands of the screen.
