Staying true to the classic, Apartment 7A takes it's queue from Rosemary's Baby and spins a web connecting the two well.
Director: Natalie Erika James (known for directing Relic from 2020 among a few other films of the same)
Writers: Natalie Erika James, along with fellow Relic writer Christian White, and Skylar James (relatively new).
Main Cast: Julia Garner (best known in this house for Inventing Anna, as Terry Gionoffrio), Dianne Wiest (as Minnie Castevet), Kevin McNally (Roman Castevet), and Jim Sturgess as Alan Marchand.
VOD: Paramount + and Prime Video Tagline: Rosemary was not the first
Rating: R
SubGenre: Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, Horror, Thriller
Acting as a predecessor, Apartment 7A sets the stage (literally) for the story line that is the OG classic - Rosemary’s Baby 1968 Directed by Roman Polanski.
Director James and her team have, in my humble opinion, done an outstanding job creating this prequel. The cinematography made the two movies as seamless as you can, given the literal 56-year gap in the release of the movies.
I’ll be berated for saying this, but even though it’s a classic, Rosemary isn’t one of my top laminated horror movies. But of course, I give it the cred it deserves as Roman Polanski was genius with the film. So, understanding it’s importance in the history of horror film, I certainly wanted to watch 7A.
There are really mix reviews of this movie. My (again humble) opinion, this new installment was well written, well filmed and was well cast. All the 4 main characters in 7A are either in Rosemary or mentioned, and the elder couple, the Castevets, were outstanding in recreating the characters from the movie in the 60’s. Dianne Wiest was remarkable as Minnie, she mimicked Ruth Gordon so well.
I thought 7A worked in the same pace, the same undertone and similar cinematographic style as its predecessor while being artistically crafted.
The well-crafted ties: In 7A, we follow Terry Gionoffrio, who is briefly in Rosemary who is found early in the film having jumped / fallen from the building. There are many instances in 7A that are directly pulled from the original film. The character Alan Marchand was noted in Rosemary as being involved in working on a play, and is indeed, in 7A working on a play. In 7A, we meet a lady judge/lawyer “the first female” judge, who attacks Terry in the movie and ends up deceased, is the apartment 7E that the Woodhouse couple take over in Rosemary. The books, the necklace, the herbs, the ties are endless and well-integrated to give you the feel of one continuous story arch across two movies even though they were made many years apart.
Altogether, I feel that Apartment 7A is a must-see, particularly if you are a fan, or an enthusiast of the classics, as 7A is a successful prequel from all angles.
Carissa's Reel Review: 3.5 / 5
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