Cillian Murphy Shifts to Indie Films After Oppenheimer Oscar Win

Cillian Murphy is choosing smaller films after his Oppenheimer success. He won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Christopher Nolan’s epic. Now he is focusing on intimate dramas.

Murphy produced two new projects through his company. Both films tell deeply human stories. They are far from the blockbuster scale of his previous work.

Murphy’s New Projects Focus on Human Drama

His first post-Oppenheimer film is Small Things Like These. It opened the Berlin Film Festival. Murphy plays a coal seller in a small Irish town.

His next project is titled Steve. It is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Murphy portrays an overwhelmed teacher at a school for troubled teens.

Both films were made with director Tim Mielants. They collaborated previously on Peaky Blinders. The budgets were a fraction of a major studio film.

Netflix Backs Gritty British Storytelling

Murphy sent the Steve script to Netflix after the Oscars. The streaming giant approved it immediately. This aligns with their push for bold British content.

Netflix’s Anne Mensah is championing this new direction. The platform recently backed the socially realistic film Adolescence. This shows a demand for grittier stories.

Steve was shot entirely on location at a reform school. The production used a raw, chronological shooting style. This method added to the film’s intense authenticity.

Murphy’s strategic pivot highlights a growing trend of A-list actors leveraging their commercial success to tell smaller, meaningful stories. This move enriches the film landscape with diverse narratives.

Info at your fingertips

What are Cillian Murphy’s new films about?

Small Things Like These is about a man in a poor Irish village. Steve follows a teacher at a school for at-risk teenagers. Both are intimate character studies.

Who is directing these new films?

Tim Mielants is directing both projects. He is a longtime collaborator of Murphy’s. They worked together on the series Peaky Blinders.

Is Netflix involved in these projects?

Yes, Netflix is distributing the film Steve. The company greenlit the project quickly after reading the script. They plan a theatrical release for it.

How did Oppenheimer influence this career shift?

The Oscar win gave Murphy more influence to get projects made. He is now choosing stories that personally interest him. The scale of the project is now a secondary concern.