Bad Apples

Saoirse Ronan stars as a primary school teacher forced to take drastic action after the disappearance of a foul-mouthed, violent student.

Saoirse Ronan, the incandescent star of Lady Bird, Little Women, and The Outrun, returns to the screen with one of her most daring and memorable roles in Jonatan Etzler's satirical thriller Bad Apples.

Maria (Ronan) is an elementary teacher at a ritzy private school, whose class is plagued by the bad behaviour of one extremely foul mouthed and disruptive child, Danny. After he has a violent altercation with another student, Maria is forced to take action. And when Danny doesn’t show up for the next few days, she is shocked at how easily the parents accept his absence — and don't want him back. As things spiral even further out of control, Maria is caught between her own bad choices, the utter lack of concern from her community, and the less-than-angelic behaviour of her other students.

Swedish-born Etzler fuses caustic Nordic humour with genre elements, asking questions, both timeless and timely, and always discomfiting.

Screening at Luna Leederville from November 19.