Spoilers for Steve are ahead! Read with caution, and watch the movie with a Netflix subscription.
In Steve, which is Netflix’s latest 2025 release, Cillian Murphy plays the titular teacher who uses a recorder constantly to keep track of his thoughts and emotions. It’s an effective device, and it gives us a look into this character’s inner monologue. So, when I interviewed the actor who plays him, I asked why he thinks Steve uses his recorder so much, and I also specifically posed a question about the final words he says into it, which led to a pretty personal answer.
Throughout the film, which is a book-to-screen adaptation of Max Porter’s book Shy, we see Murphy’s Steve talk into his recorder often. He uses it to give updates to Shola, and he also uses it to talk out what’s been going on. It’s seemingly a way for him to process this incredibly difficult job he has. When I asked Murphy about it, he said that the device did those two things for him, explaining:
I think it's a sort of to soothe himself, really. You know, he just doesn't have enough time in the day to do these things. So it's like what we do nowadays, making notes on our phones or whatever. That's his version of doing it. But it’s also practical; he's trying to bring Shola up to speed. He's one of those people that just never has time to do anything. He's always behind, behind, behind, behind, making this, making this, making this, making notes, making notes. So it was a really good device for a character.
It really was a good instrument for the character, and the audience as well. To me, it helped us keep up with Steve’s inner monologue, as he literally vocalized his thoughts for himself. It also helped Murphy’s character organize his thoughts, speak to himself and process what happened.
After asking about the significance of the recorder, Murphy and I spoke about the final line he says into it, which is “It’s enough, isn’t it?” I found the line beautiful, especially after hearing Steve speak so highly of his students. I also found it deeply relatable.
It turns out, the actor did too, as he told me not necessarily how it applied to Steve, but how it applied to himself, personally. His explanation, ultimately, is very fitting to the film while also being very relatable, as he said:
That's really interesting, because a few people have asked me, like, ‘Well, what would you say to yourself in 1996?’ And because I was starting off as an actor in ‘96, and I think that thing of, like, just, it's enough. You know, you're good enough. Don't beat yourself up. You know, be kind to yourself. I think that's, that's what it feels like to me.
That’s so sweet and personal, and it was lovely to hear Murphy think back on his days as a young actor. He told me how important kindness and gentleness are, and how that relates to the final words of the movie.
Also, before those final words in the 2025 movie schedule entry, Steve says that he wants his students and daughters to realize how much there is to life, that it’s more than just the hard stuff. He explains how much potential the unknown has, and his final words are “It’s enough, isn’t it?” So, to hear Murphy reflect on that line in relation to the start of his career was touching.
Now, if you’d like to go back and reflect on this final line, as well as the use of the recorder in Steve, you can stream Cillian Murphy’s great movie on Netflix.
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