Interview With The Vampire Star’s New Thriller Officially Divides Critics & Audiences On Rotten Tomatoes

Published Oct 3, 2026, 10:47 PM EDT

Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. 

Critics and audiences are polarized by an Interview with the Vampire star's new thriller.

Based on the Anne Rice book of the same name, AMC's Interivew with the Vampire is centered on the vampires Louis de Pointe de Luc (Jacob Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), Armand (Assad Zaman), and journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Season 3 is titled The Vampire Lestat, as it adapts the novel of that name, and season 4 will keep the renaming going by being called Queen of the Damned, which is the book being adapted next. The series is part of AMC's Immortal Universe that also includes Mayfair Witches, Talamasca: The Secret Order, and the in-development Night Island.

Now, Anderson's new dark comedy thriller film Bad Apples has debuted to a "Rotten" 59% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is significantly lower than the critics' score, which is a "Certified Fresh" 84%. The 59% score is based on more than 50 ratings, but it may fluctuate as more audience reviews come in.

Bad Apples sees Anderson in the role of Sam, a colleague and former romantic partner of struggling school teacher Maria Spencer (Saoirse Ronan). Maria has a violent and destructive student named Danny (Eddie Waller), who makes every day a nightmare for his classmates and for her. However, everything in Maria's professional and personal life changes for the better after she kidnaps Danny and keeps him captive in her basement, although it becomes increasingly challenging for her to maintain this secret.

Some of the audience reviews take issue with the dark humor and how the story concludes, along with arguing that the film doesn't work well as a thriller or a comedy. The more positive audience reviews praise Ronan's performance, the timely commentary regarding the state of the education system, and that there is an effective balance between the tension and humor.

As for the critics, ScreenRant's Bad Apples review by Mae Abdulbaki calls the movie "one of the most delightfully unhinged films of the year" and gives it eight out of 10 stars. Abdulbaki also 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."

While speaking with ScreenRant's Tatiana Hullender, Ronan explained 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 beginning on September 18, 2026.

With Anderson primarily starring in shows, including Interview with the Vampire, The Sandman, Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones, Bad Apples is one of his only feature films in recent years. His last feature film before this was 2024's historical science-fiction romantic comedy Timestalker and before that it was 2018's horror action movie Overlord. He will reprise the role of Louis for the upcoming Interview with the Vampire season 4, also known as Queen of the Damned.

Along with Anderson, Ronan, and Waller, the Bad Apples cast features 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 seeks Maria's attention, Sylvia is the school's lead administrator, Josh is Danny's father, Frank is Pauline's father, and PC Williams and Chadwick investigate Danny's disappearance.