Bad Apples Review

Bad Apples is a dark comedy based on the Swedish novel, De Oönskade and transferred the setting from Southern Sweden to the South West of England.

Maria Spencer (Saoirse Ronan) is a primary school teacher struggling to control her class because of one disruptive pupil, Danny (Eddie Waller). After Danny gets suspended from school because he pushed another pupil down the stairs, Maria catches the boy smashing up cars and ends up knocking him out. Maria ends up holding Danny hostage in her basement.

Bad Apples was a festival favourite. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, opened the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and was selected for the London Film Festival. However, it took a year for it to be released to the general public.

The premise for Bad Apples was similar to the British-Polish film The Good Boy (not to be confused with the dog horror movie of the same name). Both were dark comedies about a young tearaway who ends up getting their life sorted in an unconventional way. There were differences: Maria ended up in her situation by accident. She was a woman who struggled to maintain control. She couldn’t control her classroom because of Danny, and her situation escalated after she subdued the boy. Even when things seemed to be going well for Maria, a potential variable came in the form of the wannabe teacher’s pet.

The idea of a disruptive pupil disappearing would be every teacher’s dream. Even some students would be happier if that classmate disappeared. Bad Apples showed Danny’s disappearance had an effect on everyone. Maria became a better teacher; she got to know her pupils better and dressed more professionally. It felt similar to Joker after Arthur Fleck killed the bankers: a bad incident ended up making the characters more confident, even for a brief period.  Even Danny improved academically when he was taken out of school, like Bart Simpson in The Simpsons episode “Whacking Day.”

Bad Apples did have ambitions beyond its small-scale story. It was also an examination of failing systems. The school system was failing everyone. Maria couldn’t control her class, which meant Danny dragged everyone down as Bart Simpson did in “Brother’s Little Helper.” When Maria asked the headteacher (Rakie Ayola), her answer was “with what money?” Danny was being failed because he clearly needed educational support for his behaviour. Danny’s father, Josh (Robert Emms), was struggling to deal with Danny’s behaviour, and he was trapped in his delivery driver job because he was on a zero-hours contract. Maria broke the system, but she ended up creating a new one. Bad Apples’ commentary was similar to Bong Joon Ho’s films, particularly Snowpiercer and Parasite. The film’s ambition was to be a dark comedy. However, dark comedy can be difficult to master, and Bad Apples ended up being mildly amusing.

Bad Apples was filled with talented actors. Ronan’s talent was never in question, and she was brilliant as a struggling teacher who grew more confident but diabolical. She was incapable of handling stress, even acting like a child by hiding when things got too much. Maria was a tragic figure because of her job struggles, living alone, and spending her evenings playing Farm Simulator. It was fun to hear Ronan getting to use her natural Irish accent in a film role. There was an irony to Ronan’s role because when she was a teenager, she played a girl who was abducted in The Lovely Bones, and now as an adult, she abducted a child.

The two main child actors were also excellent. Waller felt authentic as a rage-filled child who was acting out against the world because he had no voice or outlet. Nia Brown was terrific as Pauline, the girl who wanted to be Maria’s friend. Brown was great at playing a lonely, weird girl, but became more sinister and manipulative. A great little moment was when Pauline saw something that would shock most people, but she smiled. She was a devil disguised as an angel.

On a final note, Chris Roe deserves praise for the score. The music was deep and dramatic, highlighting Maria’s growing stress.

Bad Apples was a jet-black film that will give audiences plenty to ponder because of the themes and performances, but it will be an acquired taste because of its style of humour.