Cillian Murphy Broke Down The Personal Meaning Behind His Character’s Final Words To His Recorder At The End Of Steve

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