How do you deal with unruly kids? It’s an age-old question that receives a quite hilarious answer in Bad Apples, the sophomore feature directorial effort of Swedish filmmaker Jonatan Etzler, which transposes the action of Rasmus Lindgren’s novel De oönskade (“The unwanted”) to the United Kingdom. With a wonderfully committed Saoirse Ronan in the lead, it should have no major issues appealing to a wider audience following its early festival kudos in Toronto and San Sebastián.
Ronan, who of course made an impression very early on, earning an Oscar nomination for her work in Atonement at the age of 14, is a very pertinent choice for the role of a school teacher trying to get the best out of the next generation in an unspecified British locale (principal photography took place in Bristol). Except the task is harder than anticipated, due to an 11-year old pest called Danny (Eddie Waller). In the opening scene, which explains the title in gleefully unsubtle fashion, the kid in question sabotages some machinery during a school trip by throwing his shoe into it.
Maria (Ronan) would like some help to deal with Danny so he doesn’t disrupt class activities too much, but the school budget cannot afford an extra teacher just to rein him in. This backfires drastically when the boy’s antisocial behavior causes another student, Pauline (Nia Brown), to be physically injured, putting Maria’s continued employment in jeopardy. Danny gets suspended as a result, but it’s not a given he will avoid coming in the next day. And since an inspection is scheduled for that same day, desperate times may call for desperate measures…
By its nature, the film’s dramatic and comedic thrust rests primarily on the younger actors’ shoulders, and on that front Bad Apples delivers in spades. Waller, making his film debut, is on a level comparable to Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, in that he very convincingly embodies a kid so utterly and (sometimes) cheerfully despicable it’s easy to relate to everyone else deeming him an irredeemable little turd (for lack of a better term). Brown is similarly revelatory with a character who is equal parts endearing and obnoxious, a duality she effortlessly conveys with as little as a perfectly calibrated smile.
Hovering above them, Ronan gets to flex her comedy muscles in unexpected ways, clearly relishing the opportunities provided by a script that is not afraid to go all the way when the premise suddenly turns fairly insane. And while the plot does stretch plausibility at times, it’s never any less than unrelentingly amusing thanks to the cast’s commitment to the increasing insanity and Etzler’s refusal to let the movie pause for breath once it’s reached the point of no return where the blend of humor and tension is concerned (the director’s Nordic background is most evident in the tonal big swings).
Running at a brisk 99 minutes, the movie also knows when to bow out: just as one may think the suspense is at risk of deflation in the concluding stretch, Bad Apples makes sure the finale won’t spoil the fun, ending on just the right note of tense hilarity to, in a manner of speaking, close out the school year. As such, Etzler’s career is ripening nicely, although most viewers will probably be curious to see how the kids’ professional paths blossom, should they choose to continue acting beyond this very promising, exhilarating early showcase.
Director: Jonatan Etzler
Screenwriter: Jess O’Kane
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Jacob Anderson, Eddie Waller, Nia Brown, Rakie Ayola, Robert Emms, Sean Gilder
Producer: Oskar Pimlott
Cinematography: Nea Asphäll
Production design: Jacqueline Abrahams
Costume design: Sarah Blenkinsop
Music: Chris Roe
Sound: Andreas Franck
Production companies: Pulse Films, HanWay Films
World sales: Republic Pictures
Venue: San Sebastián International Film Festival (New Directors)
In English
99 minutes
