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Bad Apples

Play trailer Bad Apples 2025 1h 40m Comedy Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 29 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
Maria, a primary school teacher doing her best to inspire a class of 10-year-olds, is stifled by one unruly and chaotic student. With her career in question and the child's behavior spiraling, she makes a series of questionable decisions that lead to her accidentally taking and locking this "bad apple" in her home. Maria tries desperately to backtrack, but when the class starts flourishing and the staff and parents are thrilled with the improvement, she finds herself in a very complicated predicament.

Critics Reviews

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Guy Lodge Variety Ultimately, this odd, wicked little amorality tale winds up siding with no one: The children are indeed the future, we’re left to conclude, but will they make it any better than the present? Sep 25, 2025 Full Review Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com This is a consistently engaging, funny film, one that should provoke conversations not just about the systemic problems in education but how they reflect everything around them. Sep 10, 2025 Full Review Chase Hutchinson TheWrap Etzler wields the film’s urgent satire like a scalpel, precisely cutting away at all the lies we so easily find ourselves telling that mask the darker truths about who we are. Sep 8, 2025 Full Review Jack Martin Film Feeder The filmmakers have essentially made the Dr. Strangelove of school-set satires, one where you’ll be shocked – yet thoroughly entertained – by how far they’re willing to stretch their concept. Rated: 4/5 Oct 18, 2025 Full Review Alistair Ryder The Film Stage Bad Apples tackles a very specifically British institutional issue in a way I’m not sure will fully translate outside of its home country. It’s a damning political indictment disguised as a fun, twisty thriller. Oct 15, 2025 Full Review Katie Hogan She Likes Movies Bad Apples holds the promise of repressed carnage but it would have been great to see absolute chaos. Oct 14, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Movie Info

Synopsis Maria, a primary school teacher doing her best to inspire a class of 10-year-olds, is stifled by one unruly and chaotic student. With her career in question and the child's behavior spiraling, she makes a series of questionable decisions that lead to her accidentally taking and locking this "bad apple" in her home. Maria tries desperately to backtrack, but when the class starts flourishing and the staff and parents are thrilled with the improvement, she finds herself in a very complicated predicament.
Director
Jonatan Etzler
Producer
Oskar Pimlott
Screenwriter
Jess O'Kane
Production Co
Pulse Films
Genre
Comedy, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 40m