Saoirse Ronan is back on our screens in a way we haven’t quite seen before, headlining the darkly comic thriller BAD APPLES for Paramount Pictures, and the first trailer has just landed. Directed by Jonatan Etzler, BAD APPLES finds the Academy Award nominee playing Maria, a primary school teacher who pours everything she has into her class of ten-year-olds, only to be pushed to her limit by one relentlessly disruptive pupil.

When the child’s behaviour spirals out of control, Maria makes a split-second decision she can never take back, accidentally bringing the boy home with her and locking him inside her house. What starts as a moment of panic quickly spirals into something far messier as she scrambles to undo the damage before anyone notices. The twist, though, is where BAD APPLES really sinks its teeth in. With the troublesome student suddenly gone, the classroom transforms.

Grades improve, morale lifts, parents and staff alike start celebrating what looks like a miraculous turnaround, and Maria finds herself trapped in an impossible bind of her own making, unable to confess without unravelling everything. It’s a premise that promises equal parts comedy and moral unease, anchored by Ronan in a role that looks set to showcase her range for tension and dark humour in the same breath. She’s joined by a strong supporting cast including Eddie Waller, Nia Brown, Jacob Anderson, Rakie Ayola, Robert Emms, and Sean Gilder, rounding out what shapes up to be one of the more original comedic thrillers on the horizon.