By Joel Williams 09/10/25 at London Film Festival
Is this something I should be laughing at? Absolutely. In life there’s a line on things and this is a film that toes the line perfectly, with my audience at the London Film Festival not only in stitches but also shaking heads at the events unfolding. People may think they are no better than some characters for laughing here but you aren’t that’s what a satire is built to do.
Saoirse Ronan in “Bad Apples” Photo Credit: Pulse Films
Hard to give a description of this film without giving more details than you should have, you should absolutely go in blind on this. The most basic synopsis here; A struggling primary school teacher begins to make some questionable decisions after on of her students is injured.
Directed by Jonatan Etzler and based off Rasmus Lindgren’s Swedish novel ‘De Oönskade’. “Bad Apples” stars Saoirse Ronan as school teacher Maria and a fantastic supporting cast of kids including Eddie Waller as Danny and Mia Brown as Pauline.
Little slow to start for the first 30 minutes or so but as things unravel and situations go from the crazy to absurd it becomes an absolute riot that had my screening in absolute hysterics, a nice thing to happen since a lot of the cast and the director were in the audience too. A subject that will have you questioning if it really should be this funny but it’s done in such a satirical way that it only adds to the experience. Not only that but there becomes an element of believability in certain reactions in a hilarious sequence towards the end that you’ll just have to witness yourself. As wild as it gets I was sat in theatre thinking I could see this happening in real life, doesn’t give a great look at the state of the world but also proves how effective this film is in it’s writing and themes. It does take the cynical route with what is ultimately a bleak viewpoint of parenting, morality and life as a teacher.
Saoirse Ronan gives, as always, a pretty picture perfect performance. She is one the best working actors today, a fantastic range of moral adjustments as she falls deeper and deeper into the hole she creates but yet there is a quality about her that at some points makes you feel for her in the situations she’s in but definitely not all the time. She has the sweet innocence of a primary teacher but there’s a layer underneath that shows in minor details, it’s subtle but its genius work. The main takeaway however is how good the scouting was to find our 2 main child actors, Eddie Waller and Nia Brown, they are both incredible. They felt like naturals, likely due to playing kids but also because in their short lifetimes they have seen these types kids and been in classes with them. Waller as Danny has the pure rage nailed down but there’s a softness to him as we go through the story, stemming from absent parenting. There is commentary on how parenting can drastically affect children’s behaviour and between our 2 leads we are shown the contrasting reactions to how parents treat their kids. Nia Brown is much more subtle but just as brilliant as we learn more and the hole once again deepens, she has once of the funniest reactions to something in this film you’ll know it when you see it.
It’s not flashy in it’s visuals but it doesn’t need to be, there are some pretty shots to behold by cinematographer Nea Asphäll. Everything is done competently with the camera focusing on the story and acting that are the main focal points. The same story with the score, composed by Chris Roe, nothing grand in it’s execution however it’s timed well and comes in to help push the story forward at the right points. Jonatan Etzler does well to balance the tone with is dark humour and bring out some wonderful performances especially from a cast with actors so young.
Tricky to review without going into spoilers but this is a riotous time that’s so effective in it’s satirical dark comedy it makes you wish there was more to experience by the end. Fantastic performances all around and a genuine surprise at the festival, this may divide audiences opinions due to the morality surrounding the situations but you’ll have a cinema experience you likely won’t forget.
“Bad Apples” has been picked up for UK distribution, release date is TBC
