If you've ever seen the 1968 horror film Rosemary's Baby, you may remember, at the beginning of the film, Rosemary (Mia Farrow; The Purple Rose of Cairo) meets a young woman named Terry (Angela Dorian; When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth) who was taken in by their neighbors, Mr. And Mrs. Castevet (Sydney Blackmer; High Society/Ruth Gordon; Harold and Maude). A few days later Terry killed herself by jumping out a 7th-story window. Did you ever wonder about Terry and why she took her own life? Or was she just some random character in a film that you forgot 2 minutes later? Well, if you were part of the former group that wondered about her, you are in luck. Coming to Paramount+ at the end of this month is the prequel to Rosemary's Baby, Apartment 7A.
Terry Gionoffrio (Julia Garner; Ozark) is a dancer who grew up in the Midwest and, like so many other hopefuls, came to New York City to be a star. However, when a leap lands her with a broken ankle, she loses out on job after job. Lost in despair, she passes out in front of the Bramford where she is found by the Castevets, Minnie (Dianne Wiest; The Lost Boys), and Roman (Kevin McNally; Pirates of the Caribbean franchise). Patrons of the Arts, the couple takes her in and lets her stay in their "spare" apartment.
Suddenly, Terry's luck seems to change. She gets a part in a show and when the lead has an "accident" Terry is chosen to fill her role. However, everything goes wrong when Terry finds herself pregnant after a hazy evening at Alan Marchand's (Jim Sturgess; Cloud Atlas) apartment. As the Casevets become more and more overbearing, Terry realizes something isn't right and once she finds out the truth, she feels she has no choice but to jump out the window.
Garner is very well cast as Terry, it is weird seeing her as a brunette when she is normally a blonde. Wiest, with her soft and lyrical voice that can lull anyone to sleep, is excellent as the caring yet overbearing, sweet, grandmother type and McNally compliments her very well. The rest of the cast is good but nobody stands out like Garner and Wiest, nor should they. These two women command attention when they are on screen and their scenes together are the most memorable.
Director/co-writer Natalie Erika James (Relic) makes Apartment 7A her own while paying homage to Roman Polanski's (Chinatown) half-century-old film, Rosemary's Baby. The story is mostly the same with subtle changes here and there but James uses modern technology to offer varying camera angles and a "dream" sequence that is bizarre but effective. The Production designer, Simon Bowles (A Quiet Place: Day One), should get props for giving the movie a 1960's aesthetic. The look and feel of the costumes, the. Apartments, New York City, etc. transports the viewer back to a time when things were simpler, yet not really.
What Rosemary's Baby had that Apartment 7A does not is originality. The latter film seems like a remake of the former, which was praised when it premiered. Apartment 7A had very big shoes to fill and I don't think it did. For younger audiences, who have never seen Rosemary's Baby, I think they will enjoy the movie more than those of us who have seen the original film. I also think it might spark some interest in the former movie, rejuvenating it for a whole new generation. However, once people have seen both, I believe we will wonder why we need two of the same thing fifty-plus years apart.
Grade: B-
