Bad Apples ★★★★

Released: 18 September 2026

Director: Jonatan Etzler

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eddie Waller, Nia Brown, Jacob Anderson, Rakie Ayola

As far as apples analogies go, ‘rotten to the core’ might be an apt way to describe some of the precocious students that place Saoirse Ronan, as primary school teacher Maria, at her wits’ end in the deliciously dark satire, Bad Apples. Wickedly absurdist and engrossing, the film lurches from one extreme to the next, with unpredictable farce, as Maria’s desperation at being reduced to behavioural management, rather than teaching, with the bad apples versus bad barrels theory firmly tested, reveals a desperate, outlandish solution with laugh out loud moments that delivers one of Ronan’s career best performances.

Since her breakthrough role in Atonement through to Ladybird and playing Jo March in Little Women, Ronan’s acting talent, in eclectic role choices, has dazzled audiences. Here, she seems to be returning to a more dubious, unwittingly unethical role unearthing some of those amoral tendencies, of which glimpses were unveiled in her Atonement persona. It’s a leading role that Ronan relishes, despite some of the film’s bizarre and questionable moments, following an altercation with the ‘bad apple’ Danny played with verve by newcomer Eddie Waller. The dynamics between Ronan and Waller are captivating as they counter each other’s energy and react with greater acting voracity.

However, the film highlights the conundrum that many teachers face whilst attempting to teach overcrowded classes and unruly students. As such, a socio-economic, never-ending doomsday dynamic underpins this tale. The film, therefore, highlights the impact of lack of classroom resources, time and funding. A political stance is omnipresent, but remains in the background, as the subtle rationale for Maria and the parents’ frustrations regarding educational pressures for the remaining children of Maria’s class. Other films, such as the excellent System Crasher (2019), confront this issue directly. In System Crasher, an out of control student was shunned by schools and education authorities thereby leading to her effectively falling through the system. The reaction in that film was to exclude the student as a temporary fix to resolve the ‘problem’. Inevitably, such short term actions created a negative cycle with inadequate social care directed to the student, which was yet another example of systemic failure without blaming the individual student!

Bad Apples slightly differs in approach with Etzler’s camera adopting a light touch technique, whilst reserving judgement of Maria’s illogical, knee jerk reactions to Danny’s outbursts. The question arises once more, as to whether preventative action involving the deployment of external authorities to assess the systemic problems might have reduced the tension regarding the management of Danny, but that would have removed half of the fun of the film!

Based on the 2020 novel, De Oönskade by Rasmus Lindgren, Jonatan Etzler’s version infuses a Lord of the Flies type of morality tale demonstrating the seductive nature of ‘being bad’ to remove obstacles to maintain the status quo.  Such removal, from adhering to societal norms, appears to unleash a superficial degree of liberation. The symbolic apple is therefore effectively creating that layer of sin that permeates throughout the school infecting all of the teachers and students, including the principled Maria, as a persuasion to maintain  self-preservation and act selfishly.

Etzler’s Bad Apples inhabits a satirical universe with a level of comedic slapstick antics allowing the adults to invoke their inner child to compete and ensure they have created the best environment for their child’s future achievements. Additionally, a deep sense of horror pervades when Maria opts to lock her troubles away, literally, with the secret constantly threatening to erupt and overspill. The score’s impactful heavy chords, during these moments, emphasise this sense of dread with a few jump scares thrown in for good measure akin to a J-horror.

Difficult as it may be to categorise a film as unique as Bad Apples, there is an admirable succinctness on display whilst traversing many genres, with a 100 minute runtime. Frankly, there is the feeling that Bad Apples might have slotted in well to the Greek Weird Wave with its juxtaposition between absurdist and underlying socio-political critiques. Undoubtedly, this is part of the film’s appeal meshed with unpredictability, similar to the changing seasons explored via gorgeous, vibrant visuals of the timings of an apple’s lifecycle. Bad Apples is best watched with no expectations and is full to the brim of dark, enjoyable humour. Here is an exceptional performance from Ronan, in the role of her life, which leaves us questioning our own moral compass.