New movie Steve packs a wallop similar to Adolescence

Steve came out this week on Netflix with absolutely no attendant hoopla.

After the world-conquering Oppenheimer, star Cillian Murphy made two infinitely smaller films with Belgian director Tim Mielants. This is the second. I suspect this is Murphy’s preferred scale to work in.

Here he plays Steve, who runs a reform school, somewhere in England in 1996.It’s a school for young men on their last chance, who’ve been given up on by the system, by their families, by everyone apart from idealists like Steve.

What little support for Stanton Wood there was has evaporated, which is why they agreed to let a TV crew in to do a story about it. Which is fine if everyone is on their best behaviour for it.

But that’s the trouble with these boys – they don’t really do best behaviour. That’s why they’re there in the first place – posh Cal, Bennie the rapper, Jamie the fizzy, unexploded bomb, the brooding Tarone.

And then there’s Shy. We meet Shy on the worst day of his life – he’s just been cut off by his parents after one too many abusive rants. Last time he let off steam he almost cut his stepfather’s finger off.

But he’s not on his own. Steve is there for all of them.

Steve, the film, is Max Porter’s own adaptation of his experimental novella, which was called Shy.

Shifting the emphasis from the teenage youth to include the Murphy character isn’t just a marketing ploy.

Goodness knows the “troubled teen” and the “inspirational teacher” have been fixtures in movies forever. But what if both are facing demons?

Shy’s background is already documented.Steve’s is more hidden, under control.And his work is supported by three great women.

Jenny, the Thursday counsellor, is played by Emily Watson – enough said. The live-in manager – part jailer, part mummy, she says – is Amanda, beautifully played by Tracey Ullman.

The newest recruit, Shola, may seem fragile, but she proves remarkably resilient. She’s played by musician Little Simz, who also provides some of the music.

The arrival of the film crew seems to set off many of the boys like a sugar rush.But that’s ground zero for the staff here.

The worst blows – because they’re also the lowest blows – come from outside, from the Trust they depend on for the school, the TV crew ferreting around the boys’ living areas, and the arrogant MP, here to be filmed being noble.

Director Mielants’ skill is balancing the big picture – the logic beneath the chaos – with what’s happening to young Shy and the increasingly stressed Steve.

Steve is grappling with his own mental health issues in secrecy – self-medicating with booze, drugs and self-recrimination – “deal with it Steve!”

So far, so Ken Loach, maybe, like a 1996 version of Adolescence, where the villains aren’t social media influencers, but drugs and neglect. And there isn’t one kid off the rails but a school full.

But I can tell you precisely when Steve becomes something more – around one hour into the 90-minute film.

The most stunning shot I’ve seen this year encompasses the whole school – inside and out – the environs, the details, finally settling on Steve, by now on the verge of a breakdown.

And then Steve trumped that dazzling effect with an ending that I defy you to get through dry-eyed.

As I say, I’d never heard of Steve. But you don’t have that excuse now. It’s on Netflix and if you get a chance to see it, I urge you to stick with it to the end. It’ll blow you away.