The pupils’ struggles are mirrored by Steve’s own; a driven educator cum social worker, escalating alcohol and substance abuse enabling him to keep numerous plates spinning while all around him falls apart.
Thus, the scene is set for a pivotal 24 hours during which the pressure-cooker environment is tested to its limits, in a powerful film where dark humour only partially masks a desperate state of affairs, distinguished by across-the-board memorable performances.
It’s an especially frantic day at Stanton Wood, on which a camera crew filming a short piece for a regional TV news programme coincides with a visit from the area’s pompous, knighted MP (a requisitely stuffy Roger Allam).
Most significantly, though, representatives of the trust that bankrolls the project arrive to inform Steve and his staff that the buildings have been sold and the school will close in six months.
Director Tim Mielants drops that particular bombshell fairly early on, by which time he’s already skilfully established his characters, from the mayhem of Steve on what he calls “a roundabout of doom” and the equally well-meaning but more pragmatic Ullman, to the arguably unsung stars of the piece, the boys themselves.
Prominent among the miscreants is the troubled but clearly bright Shy, a mannered, captivating turn by Jay Lycurgo (screenwriter Max Porter’s own source novel was called Shy), who we first meet in a happy-go-lucky mood until a phone call from his mother reveals she no longer wants anything to do with him.
Shy’s individual collision course is punctuated by pocket portraits of his fellow students (quick-witted bully Luke Ayres and maniacal Joshua J Parker make strong impressions), often presented as straight-to-camera interviews being filmed by the TV crew – heartfelt and hilarious in equal measure.
Difficult and destructive influences they may be, but as Ullman says of the misfits in her charge, “I f***ing adore all of them.”
The scholastic/babysitting efforts of Murphy and Ullman are accompanied by integral support from nervous rookie teacher Simbi Ajikawo (aka rapper Little Simz) and Emily Watson as a (mostly) tranquil counsellor, comprising a fully-rounded cast that might suggest the film is an ensemble work more in keeping with the original book.
However, Murphy’s star power and undeniable charisma can’t help but dominate events, and it’s almost exclusively through him that we see Stanton Wood unravel at the start of its careening towards a grimly uncertain future.
He’s in awards-worthy form, those bright expressive eyes piercing through a flustered, dishevelled frame as his commitment to the kids never wavers, despite sombre upheavals in his life away from the school that are drip-fed to viewers with stylish understatement.
It’s high drama throughout and not always comfortable viewing, but Mielants and Porter use their canvas to shine a light on broader issues of social and educational systemic failure without once stumbling into preachiness.
This is responsible, intelligent film-making, more important and questioning than boarder dramas like the Oscar-winning The Holdovers and wisely side-stepping the shock value controversies of, say, 1979’s Scum.
Mielants is to be applauded for making his audience warm to a ragbag collection of ne’er-do-wells they might normally cross the street to avoid, and in Murphy’s title character he has helped fashion a poster child for underpaid, under-resourced workers navigating the obstacles that threaten the jobs they care passionately about.
One scene in particular, close to the conclusion of the film, reinforces the bond which inevitably forms between teachers and pupils; a dialogue-free snapshot that moistens the eyes to temporarily dilute the anger built up over the previous hour about the callous treatment by those in power towards a near forgotten underclass.
Steve will be released in select UK cinemas on Friday 19th September and on Netflix on Friday 3rd October.
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