Pick of the week
Steve
Hot on the heels of their Magdalene Laundries film Small Things Like These, actor Cillian Murphy and director Tim Mielants keep things tragic and intense with a drama adapted by Max Porter from his own novella Shy. However, rather than focusing on conflicted teenager Shy (played with wonderful nuance by Jay Lycurgo), Porter gives us a day in the life of Steve (Murphy), the stressed headteacher of Shy’s underfunded residential school for troubled boys. It’s an unrelenting experience, as the camera circles tightly round the kids – lippy, defensive, smart, angry – and the committed but overworked staff. Murphy is superb as a good man at the end of his tether.
Friday 3 October, Netflix
