TIFF Review: ‘Steve’ is Unable to Balance Good Intentions with Melodramatic Tendencies

Teachers have it rough. As an occasional teacher myself, I know this, though only doing it once in a while, I know that I’m lucky in some regards. They don’t get paid enough, they have too much responsibility, and can become invested in ways that can result in emotional overload. At the same time, students have no picnic, either, especially if they’re at risk or troubled in some way. It’s all fertile material for cinema, when done well. Unfortunately, while Steve has good intentions and its heart in the right place, it can’t resist melodrama that ultimately torpedoes it. Playing at the Toronto International Film Festival, it’s sadly a letdown.

Steve is at its best when purely being observational. The more the plot unfolds, the more generic it feels. There’s also a documentary news crew on hand to document a day in the life of the students and teachers, which has elements that are very creative, as well as exhausting ones as well. It all makes for a real mixed bag, through and through.

Set in the mid 1990s, we’re introduced to Steve (Cillian Murphy), one of the teachers in charge of a reform school for teen boys that’s on its last legs. Housed in a shoddy manor outside of the city, the school is as much a social experiment as anything else, one that’s exhausting the staff, who have an uneasy relationship with the teenagers.

Taking place during one day in Steve’s life, in addition to the normal incidents in the school, a documentary news crew is on hand to document it all, with the possibility that this will wind up more of an exposé than anything else. There are fights, mistakes are made by both adults and teens, while one particular student in Shy (Jay Lycurgo) is very much on Steve’s mind. Oh, and he might be struggling just as much, or more, than Shy is.

Cillian Murphy is committed to a cliched part, while Jay Lycurgo impresses despite having an underwritten role. Murphy does very well with the teacher elements of his role, while the performance becomes a little more generic when dealing with some of Seve’s flaws. Lycurgo, on the other hand, has an intensity to him that makes you wish the screenplay had more for him to do than rage, stew, or stare. Still, he’s impressive, elevating what’s on the page. Among the supporting players, Tracey Ullman and Emily Watson have nice moments as fellow adults at the school.

Director Tim Mielants and writer Max Porter adapt Porter’s novella, and it does feel like something more akin to a short. Mielants has some visual flourishes that attempt to liven things up, but again, the simple observation of it all is what works best. Porter’s script can’t resist too many melodramatic moments that we’ve seen before, though there’s clearly good intentions at play. That factor, as well as its pure heart, is what makes the more common elements seem so jarring and frustrating.

Steve has elements that work, though the final product is overall a misfire. I was never bored, to be fair, but too many elements veer towards melodrama, as opposed to the realism that it seeks. So, despite what does succeed, this ends up being a TIFF entry for 2025 that won’t leave a lasting impression. Alas.

SCORE: ★★1/2