Bad Apples

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.

Bad Apples dangles moral quandaries about guilt and the greater good with cutting satire and haunting visuals.

The end result is a nifty ethical puzzle about balancing the needs of individuals versus those of the community. Still, it’s best not to take the plot too seriously given the wild implausibilities that come into play in the third act.

Jonatan Etzler’s Bad Apples is another interesting low-key diversion. Though demanding a significant leap of faith from the audience – “She just did what now?” – the picture mixes satisfyingly darkish comedy with spiky social analysis. Bad Apples is certainly not much like anything else you will see this week.

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?

Swedish director Jonatan Etzler, making his English-language debut, cannot keep this daring story plausible enough to offer meaningful insights into our broken education system.

There isn’t enough comedy or enough shock to distract you from how laborious and unbelievable the whole thing is, particularly in the closing act. At any rate, Ronan is always watchable.