Dir. Natalie Erika James (2024)
A down-on-her-luck dancer finds a pair of wealthy benefactors who may have ulterior, and possibly Satanic, motives.
I've never made it a secret that I'm not even slightly a fan of the original Rosemary's Baby (and in fact will be reviewing the OG early in October this year for our 31 Days of Halloween). I get the technical proficiency, and the performances are good for the 70's. It bores me to tears, far more style than substance and not one that I feel deserves its legendary status. I do, however, love Julia Garner, and after discovering that she was going to be in the new Paramount+ prequel Apartment 7A, I knew I was going to have to check out the screener. She plays one of the most intriguing characters from the original (spoiler for a 56-year-old movie incoming), a New York City Dancer who plummets to her death shortly after meeting the building's newest tenant, Rosemary.
Terry Gianoffrio (Garner) is a dancer who has recently experienced a devastating injury that threatens to derail her promising Broadway career. While trying to land a role in director Alan Marchand's (Jim Sturgess) new play, she discovers that he lives inside a swanky New York apartment nearby. She is taken in by elderly residents Roman (Kevin McNally) and Minnie Castavet (Dianne Wiest), who live right above Marchand and offer to spoil Terry like the child they were never able to have themselves. However, she begins to suspect that the couple has bad intentions, especially when she becomes pregnant.
If you've seen the original Rosemary's Baby, there's very little of this film that will surprise you. It's not going for inventiveness, however, instead seeking to flesh out the world of the original by providing insight into a character that makes a brief appearance in the '68 film. Terry is the same character whom Rosemary meets in the laundry room, a neighbor who lives with the Castavets and who meets her end shortly into the film. She's the first real sign that things aren't what they appear in Rosemary's new Camelot, and Apartment 7A gives us a look inside her world. Even the film's poster, which teases that "Rosemary was not the first," indicates that we know exactly what to expect going in.
Thankfully, Garner is up to the task of making the film interesting regardless of the lack of surprise. She's a phenomenal actress, and it's always nice when someone of her caliber takes on a horror role (and she's going to be in the new Leigh Whannell reboot of The Wolf Man as well). McNally and Wiest play the Castavets, my favorite characters from the original film, and they do them justice. They're creepy, rude, and a perfect replacement for the original actors. Sturgess' role as Marchand is likewise very good, and he's just as disgusting as you'd expect a rapey stage producer to be.
Director Natalie Erika James is certainly no Roman Polanski, though she does a better-than-average job with the film behind the camera. There are some stellar shots of the New York City architecture, one of the best parts about the original film that is replicated well in this one. Apartment 7A won't go down as one of the classics, but it's a very good take on Rosemary in a much more enjoyable film than the original. It's got enough nods to the OG to make fans happy, and it's different take on the devil in the film, told from Terry's perspective, is a fascinating addition.
Apartment 7A is also just the right length, wildly restrained compared to Polanski's slogging original. It's under two hours long, which is a huge plus in my book, especially for a film that seeks to be (and is largely successful in becoming) a slow burn. The performances are great, the characters are a lot less unlikeable, and Gianoffrio is the character that Rosemary should've been. Granted, I wouldn't expect Polanski to make a feminist classic. A7A, though, is a timely film that once again discusses freedom of choice, bodily autonomy, and the consequences of what happens what those things are threatened to be taken away. It's an important message in this day and age, even moreso than it was when the original film was released. Maybe they'll hear it this time, though I certainly have my doubts.
Who this movie is for: Rosemary's Baby lovers, Antichrist film fans, Off-Broadway dancers
Bottom line: Apartment 7A is a good film, though it doesn't measure up to the technical accomplishments of its predecessor. Garner has a lot of fun with the role, delivering a performance with a lot more depth than Farrow's Rosemary, and while this one for sure won't have the lasting impact of the original, it's an enjoyable film nonetheless. It's streaming exclusively on Paramount+, and I definitely recommend checking it out there.
