Bad Apples review — ‘As satisfying as a crisp Granny Smith’

The plight of a teacher is an unenviable one: kids can be real demons sometimes. As the perennial saying goes, one bad apple spoils the bunch —and in the case of poor primary-school educator Maria (Saoirse Ronan), that piece of unsavoury produce is Danny (Eddie Waller), a violent brat whose unruly outbursts have rendered her classroom a place where chaos reigns. This is the English-language feature debut of Swedish filmmaker Jonatan Etzler, and as delicious as his biting satire of Britain’s education system is, it’s astutely aware of the brutal realities of working as a teacher. Maria has well-intentioned hopes of enriching young minds, but all of her time is occupied by managing one problem child. The school’s headteacher is uncaring towards her struggles — never mind the helicopter parents who have a word or ten to say about their child’s education.

When one particular incident involving Danny leaves another pupil with a broken bone, Maria decides to take matters into her own hands in ways no curriculum would ever recommend. In the first of the film’s many entertaining, demented turns, Danny winds up trapped in Maria’s dingy basement, for one-on-one specialised education. When Danny fails to show up to school, however, she finds students, faculty and parents alike breathe a collective sigh of relief.

That her entire town would rather turn a blind eye to a problematic child’s disappearance than address the root structural causes of the issue reflects the cleverness of the razor-sharp if unsubtle script by screenwriter Jess O’Kane. (If the title’s fruitful metaphor wasn’t already clear, an opening scene at an apple-harvesting plant draws that connection almost too plainly.) Beneath the political commentary is a riotous comedy, laugh-out-loud hilarious precisely because of the unbelievable lengths the film dares to go.

By the fever-pitch third act, Bad Apples‘ leaps in logic might test your suspension of disbelief. But Ronan keeps it all tethered to the real world. It’s rare these days to see the actor outside of period dress, and it’s refreshing and exhilarating to see her in comedic mode. Her character’s frustration and desperation radiates from her, but there’s an earnestness to Maria that keeps her sympathetic — even as she makes one calamitous decision after another. As much as she blatantly crosses the ethical line, Maria just wants the best for her students.

It helps that Ronan has a pair of brilliant young scene partners by her side: newcomer Waller is terrifying as Danny, who masks a gentle side beneath his rage. Nia Brown is just unnerving as Pauline, a teacher’s pet whose eagerness to please threatens to derail Maria’s plans. Bad Apples gets to the rotten core of modern Britain, but the absurdity of it all makes you want to take bite after bite.