Review of Bad Apples (2025)
Seen in 2026.
Seen in a packed theatre at Göteborg Film Festival 2026 with some of the filmmakers present, including the director answering questions from the audience.
One autumn, a primary-school teacher in Bristol is at the end of her rope. One of her students—eleven-year-old Danny—is abusive and violent. The school does not have the funds to serve his special needs, and he has a similar situation at home. The other students in class aren’t learning.
After a particularly bad day, Danny is gone. He is suspended, doesn’t come to school, and hasn’t yet been reported missing. It is the best day the class has had in a long time. The teacher now has a chance to do her job, Danny being safely locked away in her basement.
An operatic thriller and a dark comedy, made as an international co-production with a Swedish core artistic team and Jess O’Kane adapting a Swedish novel to the West Country setting. Hence the pineapple pizza, I suppose.
Pauline, a girl in Danny’s class played by Nia Brown, is crucial in creating the surreal mood that makes the film work. It wouldn’t have worked half so well as a Ken Loach feature about school funding, though it is honest about the real-world problem. I felt sorry for Pauline, but at the same time, she’s very funny, and a secondary villain of the story. Very well done.