There’s a scene early on in Bad Apples where Saoirse Ronan’s overworked and frustrated primary school teacher Maria becomes distracted from the actions of the children in her class as they wander the corridors. She looks wistfully over her shoulder at a gymnastics lesson where kids innocently dance with ribbons. It feels like a moment from the past, perhaps the 1980s, where simplistic apparatuses bring fleeting joy. Maria is violently brought back to the present with a thud and blood-curdling screams when notoriously difficult student Danny (Eddie Waller) flings class brown-noser Pauline (Nia Brown) over the bannisters.
This twisted black comedy adapted by Jess O’Kane from a novel by Swedish author Rasmus Lindgren and directed by Jonatan Etzler is a hilarious jolt to the system. It comes replete with the gallows humour of Danny Boyle’s 1994 debut Shallow Grave, and the satirical bite of Alexander Payne’s Election. Set in a West Country school, it gifts Ronan with a morally complex role that the actor serves up in a nuanced yet deliciously mischievous manner. Maria isn’t an inspirational teacher and nor is she a villain. Emotionally, she is going through a hard time and, at her lowest ebb, makes the regrettable decision to take Danny hostage in her basement. When her school life shifts from disparaging insults to accolades and warmth, she decides the best course of action is to continue to hide Danny away from the world.
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Shoving the problem out of sight is never the solution, and yet confronted with overstretched budgets and relentless box ticking in educational institutions, desperate measures occur. O’Kane’s screenplay is concerned with structural issues and the sinister motives of British society as a whole. She delicately toys with horror tropes in unpredictable ways, conveying mounting distrust with menacing flair while also blending drama, comedy and existential crises marvellously. Maria, Danny and Pauline may differ in age and fiscal circumstance but they are all essentially starved of the love and attention they need. Danny’s dad is an overworked package delivery driver and Pauline’s dad is dismissive of her creative pursuits and the kind of man who probably voted for Brexit. Maria has recently been dumped and is full of anguish over dashed childhood dreams. But at least she had hope at one point; ten-year-old Danny seems hopeless.
No one is painted as entirely innocent and the performances from the child actors are gleefully unhinged. Danny is a ball of rage and expletives, with Waller bringing an exceptional credibility and vulnerability to his role. Pauline is wicked smart, but also a scheming brat, and Brown delivers big laughs with her manipulative demands and cringey singing. It’s worse than watching the World Cup half-time show. Where recent releases about lost potential and outliers in the system such as The Good Boy and Steve delved into the themes of discipline, abandonment and mental health with a darker edge, Bad Apples dangles moral quandaries about guilt and the greater good with cutting satire and haunting visuals.
