Jacob Anderson, best known as Louis de Pointe de Luc on AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, has a new thriller out. It is called Bad Apples. The film has a 59% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which counts as “Rotten,” while critics rate it a “Certified Fresh” 84%.
The Setup Behind the Split
Bad Apples is a dark comedy thriller. Anderson plays Sam, a colleague and former romantic partner of Maria Spencer, played by Saoirse Ronan. Maria is a struggling school teacher whose student, Danny, is violent and destructive. She kidnaps him and keeps him captive in her basement.
The movie tracks how Maria’s life improves after the kidnapping, even as the secret gets harder to hide. It is a film about a woman who takes extraordinary action to escape a bad situation.
What Audiences Are Saying
The audience reviews are harsh. Some viewers take issue with the dark humor and the ending, arguing the film does not work well as a thriller or a comedy. Others think the story leans too far into jokes at the expense of dread.
The positive reviews focus on Ronan’s performance and the film’s commentary on the state of education. They also note that the balance between tension and humor holds up.
What Critics Are Saying
ScreenRant’s Mae Abdulbaki calls Bad Apples “one of the most delightfully unhinged films of the year” and gives it eight out of 10 stars. She writes that “Bad Apples is daring, creatively handling Maria’s situation as it reaches unexpected heights. The film is genuinely funny, and the cast is up to the task as the story balances impending consequences for Maria’s actions and gasp-inducing comedic satire.”
Ronan on the Film
Ronan told ScreenRant’s Tatiana Hullender that “nothing was off the table with Bad Apples.” The movie debuted at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival before coming to U.S. and U.K. theaters for a limited run starting September 18, 2026.
The film runs 99 minutes and was directed by Jonatan Etzler. Jess O’Kane and Rasmus Lindgren wrote it, and Paul Wiegard, Charles Moore, Judy Counihan, Kristian Brodie, Paul Grindey, Philip Knatchbull, and Oskar Pimlott produced it.
The Cast Around Ronan
The supporting cast includes Nia Brown as Pauline, Rakie Ayola as Sylvia, Robert Emms as Josh, Sean Gilder as Frank, Kerry Howard as PC Williams, and Euan Shanahan as PC Chadwick. Pauline is a student who wants Maria’s attention. Sylvia is the school’s lead administrator. Josh is Danny’s father. Frank is Pauline’s father. PC Williams and Chadwick investigate Danny’s disappearance.
The Numbers on the Split
The gap between critics and audiences is real. A movie that asks viewers to root for a kidnapping and then laugh at it is bound to divide people.
| Audience Score | Critic Score |
|---|---|
| 59% (“Rotten”) | 84% (“Certified Fresh”) |
Our View
The gap between the two scores is real. It is evidence that Bad Apples is doing exactly what it set out to do: unsettle people.
A movie that makes you uncomfortable is often a better movie than one that leaves you comfortable. Ronan’s performance carries the film, and the commentary on education is sharp enough to land with audiences willing to engage with it.
Anderson has spent his career in television. He has appeared in Interview with the Vampire, The Sandman, Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones. Bad Apples is one of his few feature films in recent years. His last was 2024’s Timestalker, a historical science-fiction romantic comedy. Before that came 2018’s Overlord, a horror action movie.
He will return to the role of Louis for the upcoming Interview with the Vampire season 4, also known as Queen of the Damned.
The film is worth seeing for Ronan’s performance alone. The split suggests the film is doing its job — making people feel something, even if they disagree about what it means.
Bad Apples is currently in limited release in U.S. and U.K. theaters.
Source material: “Interview With The Vampire Star’s New Thriller Officially Divides Critics & Audiences On Rotten Tomatoes,” Screen Rant.
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