New Netflix series sheds light on mental health

A much-anticipated adaptation of Max Porter’s Shy is set to hit Netflix October 3rd, 2025. The Tim Mielants film follows a day in the life of a struggling head teacher, Steve, played by Academy Award winner, Cillian Murphy. It is set in a last chance school where students are sent for a final chance to be reformed,

Throughout the film, Steve struggles to save his school and fight for the students that the rest of the world has forsaken. His battle to save the school is accompanied by his own personal struggle with his mental health.

Shy (Jay Lycurgo) is one of the students in the school who is no stranger to conflict. We follow his difficulties in moving on from his past and trying to forge a future for himself. The problem is, he tends to self-destruct and choose violence to mask his own inner fragility and struggles.

In a society where schools, teachers and students alike are under enormous amounts of pressure to meet increasingly unrealistic standards, this promises to be an intimate glimpse into that conflict between doing what is right and doing what is expected.