Bad Apples
Comedy
Dark Comedy for the Picking: A TIFF Review of ‘Bad Apples’
September 25, 2025Ben MK
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As the old saying goes, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Yet, when it comes to films set in an educational institution where some of the students are troublemakers, more often than not the teachers will attempt to rehabilitate such individuals, rather than culling them from the rest of the class. Not so, however, with director Jonatan Etzler's Bad Apples, in which Saoirse Ronan plays a teacher at her wit's end who takes a decidedly different approach to remedying a similar situation. But how far is too far? And what will her colleagues think when they discover what's going on? Maria Spencer (Ronan) is a teacher at Ashton Brook Primary School, where, for the most part, all of her students are fairly well behaved. The one exception to that rule, however, is an 11-year-old boy named Danny (Eddie Waller) who's constantly acting out and making things difficult for both Maria and his peers. Whether it's using one of his sneakers to gum up the machinery at an apple cider plant during a school trip, or pushing a fellow classmate over over a second-storey railing and breaking their arm, Danny has always been a thorn in the school administration's side. Yet, no matter how bad his behavior, it's as if no one is willing to take the necessary action to rectify it. One day, though, Maria spots Danny vandalizing cars; and in the aftermath of the scuffle that ensues when she attempts to stop him, he threatens to report her to the authorities. It's then that Maria makes the rash decision to bring Danny back to her house and lock him in her basement. And although no one will admit it, everyone and everything — from student grades to teacher morale — seems to be better off for it. What follows is a darkly comedic and satirical look at what can happen when people are pushed to the brink and societal safeguards fail. Still, despite the extreme premise, it's not hard to imagine the movie's scenario unfolding in real life. What sets Bad Apples apart from films like Dangerous Minds, however, is more than just its scathing critique of too-soft school policies and the plight of overworked educators. After all, two wrongs may not make a right — but, in this case, it certainly makes for some cathartic viewing. |
Bad Apples screens under the Special Presentations programme at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Its runtime is 1 hr. 40 min.
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