Review - Bad Apples
Directed by: Jonatan Etzler
Written by: Jess O’Kane
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eddie Waller, Jacob Anderson, Rakie Ayola, Robert Emms, Sean Gilder, Kerry Howard
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Rating: 4/5
Bad Apples is the kind of comedy that makes you laugh first and then remember, a beat too late, that the thing you are laughing at is actually horrifying. Jonatan Etzler’s English-language debut has a refreshing, slightly unhinged energy that taps directly into a very real fear: children can be terrifying, and no one warns you enough about how chaotic they truly are.
Saoirse Ronan plays Maria, a young teacher whose life is already wobbling before the story even begins. Ronan leans into the character’s frayed nerves and half-formed coping mechanisms with a dry, lived-in charm. Every rash decision she makes, every attempt to regain control, only digs her deeper into the mess. It is a great year for dark comedy, and between this and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, the genre feels unusually sharp and alive.
The film’s real scene-stealer is Eddie Waller as Danny, the pint-sized menace who drifts into Maria’s classroom and immediately begins dismantling her sanity with surgical precision. Waller is magnetic. There is a strange, unsettling confidence to his performance that balances perfectly between hilarious and unnerving. Every moment he is on screen lands.
Etzler handles the tone with surprising precision. The comedy is broad enough to be fun but grounded enough to sting. The thriller elements never overpower the humour, yet the tension is always present. The film understands the absurdity of adults trying to maintain authority when faced with children who see straight through them.
If the plot occasionally wanders, the energy never does. Ronan’s exasperation, the escalating chaos in the classroom, and that constant sense of “this cannot possibly get worse” keep the film moving with real momentum. The supporting cast, including Jacob Anderson and Rakie Ayola, bring warmth and texture, even as Maria’s world keeps fraying at the seams.
Bad Apples is sharp, funny, and quietly vicious in a way that feels very 2025. A comedy-thriller that embraces its own absurdity while never losing sight of the very real pressure cooker Maria is trapped in. And thanks to Eddie Waller’s unforgettable turn, it delivers one of the best and most bizarrely entertaining child-from-hell performances in recent memory.
