Jonatan Etzler makes his English-language debut with Bad Apples. A movie that tests the audience’s moral grounds on how to deal with misbehaviour in a student. The movie premiered at TIFF 2025 and moved onto last year’s London Film Festival.
In an interview with Nexus Point News, Jonatan Etzler discussed the casting process behind its child talent, why Saoirse Ronan was always the first pick, and his hopes for how Bad Apple might question audiences about societal norms.
As someone who was once a teacher, were you able to understand from that POV why Maria decided to keep Danny locked up?
Jonatan Etzler: I wouldn’t do it, but I mean, I can understand the character of Maria; she’s quite a lonely person in a sense. The job is essentially all that she has, and once she starts getting the appreciation for the work that she’s doing, finally. It’s quite hard to let go of that. So to me, it’s definitely relatable.
It’s interesting you say that because before Danny gets locked up, everything was going wrong at the school. The kids aren’t learning, and she’s struggling with the class. After Danny, they get good Ofsted reports, her relationship starts getting better, and it goes up from there.
Jonatan Etzler: Yeah.
You mentioned that Bad Apples is about what we’re willing to sacrifice or who we’re willing to sacrifice, and how this movie tackles realism. Do you believe people in real life would likely come to the same conclusion of keeping away Danny for the benefit of their children?
Jonatan Etzler: I do think so. Of course this is a slightly twisted version of reality, but I think definitely people are capable of that. I’m also a parent myself of a young kid right now, and I just understand how protective you become as a parent and what that can drive you to do. Probably in that specific situation in the film, I think some of the parents would probably say, “Yeah, let’s just keep him in the basement.” Probably not everyone.
There would be a selection that would think this could benefit us in the grand scheme of things. It’s quite sad when watching the film because everyone is so happy and his father is still hollow inside. It’s kind of a dark scene with them celebrating and creating a fund under [Danny’s] name. Bad Apples is a movie that gets people really thinking about their ethics. What is it that you want people mostly taking away when they’re watching this film?
Jonatan Etzler: I hope that the film asks some questions. It’s very fun and entertaining, but I hope it asks questions about how we’re complicit in the suffering of others in our society that we built and how we want to deal with people who can’t fit into the society that we created and the boxes of society and the way you’re supposed to function in society. I hope that people get provoked and people can start debates.
You have Saoirse Ronan in this film, but somehow the stars of Bad Apples are the kids that play Danny (Eddie Waller) and Pauline (Nia Brown). What was the casting process like for these two characters who have outstanding performances?
Jonatan Etzler: It was a long casting process, but we found Nia very early on. Nia plays Pauline, who’s like the real villain in the film. She was brilliant, and she had never been in front of the camera before, but she was just instantly amazing. Eddie, who plays Danny, was a lot harder to find. There’s so many great child actors in the UK, and we met a lot of them, and they were all brilliant. I wanted a very special quality with the character of Danny, who should feel like a loner who can’t really fit in and has this explosive rage right underneath his skin that can be set off at any time. Looking for that, we couldn’t really find it.
The children were great, but they were so socially capable, and I don’t think Danny is. Danny has to be the one who can stand alone in parking lots and smash windshields. For the film to work, I needed a very special, specific kind of character. I was so happy because when we were getting close to the shoot, we found Eddie Waller, who was brilliant. He was just amazing to everyone, so we were so happy when we found him.
Going back to Saoirse, you originally said that she was the first choice for you to play Maria Spencer. What was it about her performances that drew you to her?
Jonatan Etzler: She’s obviously a great actress and inherently likeable as a person, so when you see her on the screen, you immediately root for her. You follow her down this dark path until she locks up a child in the basement. You follow her all the way there, and then you start thinking, “Who am I actually sympathising with here?” “Who should I sympathise with?” and I think that it’s interesting that it could create those sort of questions. Saoirse was just brilliant, of course, but for me she was the perfect choice for this part, and she was my first choice, so I was really happy when she wanted to do it.
Bad Apples is out now in cinemas.
