Saoirse Ronan‘s career can be described as quietly enduring, as the A-list star has yet to win an Oscar after four nominations and appears in an impressive range of projects, the most mainstream of which are some of Greta Gerwig’s best movies. But also dazzling in some smaller-scale indies, and many believe Ronan was snubbed for a nomination for The Outrun.
Regardless of the accolades, Ronan keeps pushing herself with bold new roles. She is best known for her performances in the likes of Atonement and The Lovely Bones, as well as Little Women and Lady Bird, but in recent years has been in thought-provoking films such as Foe. Ronan will also star alongside Austin Butler in the upcoming movie Deep Cuts.
Saoirse Ronan’s Bad Apples Gets A Not-As-Bad Rotten Tomatoes Score
Ronan stars alongside Interview with the Vampire’s Jacob Anderson in the satirical thriller Bad Apples, which just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and debuted on Rotten Tomatoes. Ronan plays primary school teacher Maria, who tries to constructively rein in an extremely disobedient 10-year-old boy — up until she locks him in her basement.
Directed by Jonatan Etzler in his English-language feature debut and written by Jess O’Kane, Bad Apples has earned a strong initial Rotten Tomatoes score of 82%, aggregated from 11 reviews. The story offers relevant commentary as Maria’s class is disrupted by the boy’s behavior, and she takes the blame and gets no help.
Critics are responding largely positively to the execution of the wild premise and Ronan’s performance, with many pointing out that both the movie and the star are genuinely funny. ScreenRant‘s Mae Abdulbaki reviewed Bad Apples and deemed it “the most unhinged dark comedy you’ll see this year” with a “wildly funny Saoirse Ronan performance,” giving it an overall 8 out of 10.
What This Means For Bad Apples & Saoirse Ronan
The movies from the festival circuit right now that are at the center of early awards season discussions are debuting in the 90-100% range, which means that Bad Apples is likely out. But Ronan’s Oscar-winning performance will probably come around someday, and she certainly doesn’t need this achievement to remain a beloved and respected star.
Bad Apples may very well follow in The Outrun‘s footsteps and become a fan-favorite Saoirse Ronan movie, especially because it is apparently very different from many of her past projects, and yet she excels as usual in this darkly comedic lead role. Hopefully, the movie will secure a theatrical release soon, so more people can enjoy this wild new cinematic work.
