Saoirse Ronan delivers a career-best performance as Maria, a desperate teacher in an underfunded school, in this jet-black comedy.
Newly single, scraping by in a run-down house and constantly undermined by her colleagues, schoolteacher Maria is rapidly approaching breaking point. When an unruly pupil continues to push boundaries – and her patience – a split-second decision sparks a chain of events that raises uncomfortable questions about responsibility, authority and the limits of patience. German director Jonatan Etzler holds a mirror up to the contemporary British school system, hilariously cutting through issues around care and discipline with a some surprising and shocking twists. Bad Apples seamlessly blends satire, suspense and social commentary to ask how far any school would go to maintain an outstanding score from Ofsted.