BAD APPLES Special Screenings

U.S. Premiere

Academy Award® nominee Saoirse Ronan is Maria, an overworked primary schoolteacher in England whose classroom is disrupted by the ghastly behavior of surly and foulmouthed 10-year-old Danny (Eddie Waller). After a violent act against a fellow classmate leads to Danny’s suspension, the brutish boy ends up in a scuffle with Maria where she knocks him out cold and, in a panic, sequesters him inside her basement. With no one except Danny’s admittedly absent father concerned about the missing boy, Maria finds her other pupils excelling in their studies — so perhaps she should keep him locked up for the greater good? For his sophomore film (and English-language debut), Swedish filmmaker Jonathan Etzler adapts the Swedish novel “De Oonsade” with twists and turns as riotous as they are shocking. Yet between the boisterous laughs is a shrewd exploration of school systems that fail both teacher and student alike, as well as the parents whose total disinterest in their children’s lives sets them up for failure. Ronan, one of the finest actors of her generation, gives a winning performance as Maria that allows both her comic charms and dramatic aptitude to shine, giving a necessary degree of sympathy to keep audiences on her side even as her choices become increasingly difficult to accept. Newcomer Waller also shines inhabiting the terrible child effortlessly while still conveying an unexpected vulnerability. –Javier Chavez