Maria Spencer (Saoirse Ronan) is a school teacher dedicated to inspiring her class of ten year olds. Well, all of her students except one. Danny (Eddie Waller) is constantly late, disruptive and doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. When an encounter goes wrong, Maria ends up taking Danny home and locking him in her basement. Although she desperately wants to do the right thing, Maria is torn because now her class is flourishing and she’s getting new opportunities. Maybe what she did wasn’t so bad after all.

Based on Rasmus Lindgren’s novel De Oonskade, Bad Apples sparked my interest from the moment I saw the trailer. The premise got me – when you’re presented with an impossible choice, which one do you choose? Do you do the morally correct thing that is expected by society? Or do you cross a line and as a result have your life altered forever?

I love a good morally grey character. You feel bad for it, but at the same time you can’t help but root for them. As the film went on, Maria got further into her web of complication. No matter how crazy it all got, I couldn’t fault her for the choices she made. I understood where she was coming from. This is an individual who had everything taken away from her, who felt she constantly needed to prove herself, and by doing what she did, she finally took matters into her own hands. Ronan depicted Maria perfectly. It was refreshing to see her in such a role and the efforts paid off.

Although the audience are never clued in as to why Danny is the way that he is, Waller did a great job portraying the troubled child. He annoyed me at the beginning which was exactly the point of his character, however, I also found myself sympathizing with him. It’s clear he came from a broken home and while his situation is less than ideal, it’s clear that he formed somewhat of a bond with his teacher throughout his time in her house. Nia Brown starred as Pauline, another student of Maria’s. Somewhat of a teacher’s pet, the story takes a delicious turn when she discovers the truth about Danny. Pauline uses this to her advantage and it is then that things really take off. As a result, Brown was really a standout.

The material is dark. It is also very funny. The script is whip smart with some great dialogue. The overall experience was quite uncomfortable because I just did not know where it was going. That didn’t stop me from wanting to see what was going to happen and from relishing in the outlandish predicaments these characters find themselves in. It was like there was an impending sense of doom hanging in the balance and let me tell you the pay off was totally worth it.

Bad Apples was a breath of fresh air. I loved how it wasn’t afraid to push boundaries and really go there. It was funny, compelling and thoroughly entertaining. At the end of the day, though, it was an interesting portrayal of characters who may behave in rotten ways, but who are not rotten inside. One of my favorites of the year.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️