Bad Apples (15, 100 mins)
Verdict: Core excellence
Rating: Four stars
A satirical black comedy, Bad Apples is all the more mischievous for being played dead straight, above all by the superb Saoirse Ronan as a teacher at the end of her tether.
The film is inspired by a Swedish novel and directed by a Swede, Jonatan Etzler, but he has set it in a West-of-England primary school where Maria (Ronan) feels that teaching is her vocation but doesn’t have a clue how to deal with the unruly Danny (Eddie Waller).
He is a damaged, angry 11-year-old whose insolence and disobedience are disrupting every lesson.
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