Toronto: Cillian Murphy’s ‘Steve’ to Open Platform Competition

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As a passionate gamer, I’m excited to share that I’ll be front and center for the world premiere of “Steve,” the drama starring Cillian Murphy, at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival. This epic opening is brought to you by director Tim Mielants and Netflix. Can’t wait to immerse myself in this cinematic adventure!

Drawing inspiration from Max Porter’s novella Shy, the film Steve features Murphy, an Oscar winner, portraying a headteacher in a critical day for students at a reformatory school, a place where they have been abandoned by the world. Amid his own struggles, Steve encounters Shy (Jay Lycurgo), a troubled adolescent who is grappling with a haunting past and an unpredictable future.

Actors Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, and Emily Watson are featured in the upcoming film “Steve“, set to debut on Netflix on October 3rd. Earlier this week, Toronto announced its complete lineup of 10 films for a competition section where movies from outside the typical Hollywood studio system are showcased.

Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo, and Emily Watson will be starring in “Steve“, which premieres on Netflix on October 3rd. This week, Toronto revealed its list of 10 films for a contest where movies not typically associated with Hollywood studios are presented.

In the designated segment, Pauline Loquès’ film “Nino” makes its uncommon global debut. This production initially premiered at Cannes and features Theodore Pellerin, an emerging talent, portraying a young man whose life in Paris is dramatically altered over three days due to an unexpected cancer diagnosis that he must confront.

Additionally, here are previews for Yoon Ga-eun’s third production, titled “The World of Love“. This story revolves around a joyful female character (Seo Su-bin), who embarks on an unusual search for love, only to have it disrupted by a heated classroom incident and a mysterious letter. Another feature is the animated film “Bouchra“, directed by Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani of 2 Lizards. It centers around a 35-year-old Moroccan coyote and movie director, as she works on a film about her complex relationship with her mother.

* For Yoon Ga-eun’s third movie, “The World of Love“, we meet Seo Su-bin, a happy woman on a peculiar journey to find love that gets interrupted by an argument in class and a secret message.
* In the animated film “Bouchra“, directed by Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani, we follow a 35-year-old Moroccan coyote and director who is making a movie about her relationship with her mother.

Apart from “The Hen,” a live-action movie directed by Gyorgy Palfi that follows the story of a chicken yearning to establish a family amidst the harsh realities of the pecking order, and “Winter of the Crow” – a thriller by director Kasia Adamik. This film features Leslie Manville as a British academic who finds herself entangled in a covert police conspiracy after observing the murder of a student during martial law in Warsaw, 1981.

Adamik is Agnieszka Holland’s daughter, a renowned Polish writer and director whose upcoming biographical movie, titled “Franz” about Franz Kafka, will make its world premiere in Toronto this year. Previously, they both directed the 2017 film “Spoor” and the Netflix original series “1983,” which was Poland’s first-ever series in the Polish language. In their latest projects bound for TIFF, they collaborated with Polish cinematographer Tomasz Naumiuk.

The Platform program has secured Milagros Mumenthaler’s first film, titled “The Currents“, which tells the story of a prosperous Argentine fashion designer who experiences a debilitating fear of water after surviving a fall from a bridge into icy river waters in Geneva. Additionally, it will feature “Skite’kmujuekati’kw ” (At The Place of Ghosts), a chilling supernatural thriller by Bretten Hannam, starring Blake Alec Miranda and Forrest Goodluck.

Additionally, the Platform program includes Valentyn Vasyanovych’s film “To The Victory!”, which is a dystopian tale set in post-war Ukraine and features the director playing the main character. Furthermore, there’s Farnoosh Samadi’s work “Between Dreams and Hope”, a heartfelt queer love story that centers around Azad (Fereshteh Hosseini) and Nora (Sadaf Asgari), two young lovers who struggle to balance tradition with modernity within their society and family.

This year’s Platform competition jury is headed by a renowned Spanish director, along with Canadian director Chloe Robichaud and actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who was nominated for an Oscar (for Hard Truths).

The Toronto International Film Festival is all set to take place from September 4th through the 14th. In the upcoming weeks, we’ll be revealing more of the film schedule.

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2025-07-22 16:54