"One bad apple can spoil the barrel."
Bad Apples is a brilliant satirical thriller that showcases what it feels like to be pushed to your limit — both as a person and as a teacher.
Bad Apples is Jonatan Etzler’s English-language debut — and what a debut it is! The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where people were scrambling for tickets to its various screenings. It then went on to screen at the San Sebastián Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival, and AFI Fest.
The film follows Maria (Saoirse Ronan), a primary school teacher whose class is disrupted by one “bad apple.” You know how they say that “one bad apple can spoil the barrel”? Well, in this film, it does — both literally and figuratively. If there’s one rotten apple among a bunch of apples, it can actually cause the others to spoil faster, and this principle can also apply to a group of people, such as Maria’s classroom here. One disruptive student can mine a whole group so easily. The rest of the kids aren’t out of control like Danny (Eddie Waller, who gives such an incredible performance), but you can feel the class struggling, the mood dipping, and things just not running as smoothly as they should.
This film unlocked so many memories for me. I used to go to school with a “Danny,” and some scenes felt a little too close to reality — especially the one where he’s trying to destroy the classroom. Been there.
Teachers have to deal with so many things daily — things most of us can’t even imagine — and they deserve far more recognition for all the work they do. Over the past few years, we’ve been hearing a lot about how underpaid teachers are and how bad their working conditions can be, which is just crazy to me. Not only because they’re literally educating future generations, but also because of all the things they have to deal with. I’m not a teacher myself, but I’ve been close to some, and it’s hard.
Bad Apples is a brilliant satirical thriller that showcases what it feels like to be pushed to your limit — both as a person and as a teacher. Saoirse Ronan is incredible in this role; she truly is one of the most talented actors of her generation, and I’m not even exaggerating. She can do absolutely anything, and she portrays the desperation of this primary school teacher perfectly.
This film felt incredibly exhilarating to watch, and I can’t even imagine being a teacher and experiencing it firsthand. Some scenes had our crowd cheering and clapping, which is honestly the best feeling in a theatre. Chris Roe’s frenetic score is absolutely incredible, adding the perfect amount of tension and energy to every moment, making the chaos and drama even more gripping. Jonatan Etzler’s direction is sharp and precise — the way he frames the classroom, the pacing of each scene, and the little visual details all make the tension feel real without ever losing the darkly comic edge. The supporting cast is also excellent (special mention to Nia Brown and Jacob Anderson) — even the quieter kids whose presence makes Danny’s disruption feel even more impactful.
Bad Apples might not work for everyone, since British humor can be dry, and this film is darkly funny, but I think it’s very clever and definitely my kind of humor. Jess O'Kane wrote an incredible screenplay — I was laughing out loud throughout, and the ending totally surprised me. I didn’t expect it at all, and couldn’t stop laughing. It’s the perfect way to wrap up all the chaos and cleverness of the film.
Hopefully, Bad Apples will find a U.S. distributor soon, because this film is one of the best I’ve seen this year, and it deserves to be released widely.
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