To attempt spinning-off Rosemary’s Baby, one of the greatest horror movies ever made, is an objectively foolish endeavour. But to attempt a remake is pure self-sabotage. This is perhaps why Apartment 7A was marketed as a prequel, and not the beat-for-beat redo that it actually is. Granted, the classic film’s legacy has been irreparably damaged by the self-confessed crimes of its own director, and yes, it is immoral to watch that film with this knowledge, but should that give filmmakers and studios the freedom to further tamper with it?
What, then, separates them from its villains, who exploit young women for their personal gain? Who will stand up for the rights of both Rosemary and Rosemary’s Baby? Not John Krasinski, for sure. He’s an unlikely co-producer behind Apartment 7A, alongside the equally unexpected Michael Bay. The only thing likely to explode here, however, are your expectations. Written and directed by Natalie Erika James, Apartment 7A is the third film this year to present an identical story — the violation of a young woman’s body by salivating Satanists who’ve decided to use it as a vessel through which to deliver the demon-child.
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Dianne Wiest as Minnie Castavet and Julia Garner as Terry Gionoffrio in Apartment 7A.
While Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney, was a largely enjoyable affair with a knockout ending, The First Omen felt like a naked cash-grab. It’s a different story altogether that it bombed at the box office. Perhaps that is what prompted Paramount to funnel Apartment 7A to its streaming service, rather than present it in theatres. The power of Christ might not be able to compel the devil to leave the body of possessed child, but the power of cash certainly compelled Paramount to pull the plug on this movie.
The very talented Julia Garner stars as Terry, a young performer in 1960s New York City, whose promising career comes crashing down with her when she falls and snaps her ankle on stage. Overnight, Terry is forced to crash on her friend’s couch, and is made persona non grata in the New York theatre scene. She blows audition after audition, as word about her fall spreads. Feeling pity for Terry, the creepy couple from the original movie — the Castevets — invite her to move into their empty apartment in the infamous Bamford building. She accepts, and discovers that her new neighbour is the influential Broadway producer Alan Marchand. At her wits end, Terry follows Alan to his house and basically agrees to put herself through the casting couch in exchange for a role in his new production.
What a strange creative choice for a film about female agency! Terry was prepared to sleep with Alan, but to make matters more complicated, he decides to spike her drink anyway. She wakes up the next morning not with outrage at having been taken advantage of, but with confusion about not being able to remember anything that happened. Did she consent to being intimate at all? Was her consent even valid after Alan spiked her drink? It absolutely wasn’t, but then, why did the movie make it obvious that Terry was willing to give in? Was it only to make a rather on-the-nose point about selling your soul to the devil?
Because that’s exactly what Terry does. Not only does she accept favours from the producer — he’s played by Jim Sturgess, by the way — she gladly accepts the lead role in his play when the original actress suspiciously injures herself. Meanwhile, her interactions with the manipulative Minnie Castevet and her husband Roman become more menacing. The middle-aged Minnie is played by a scene-stealing Diane Wiest. It’s a performance that might have been a better fit for a cheekier movie. Although director James has some fun with a couple of nicely staged musical numbers, Apartment 7A is otherwise a rather grim affair. The single biggest scare in Rosemary’s Baby was a shot of Roman Castevet slyly crossing the frame in the background, almost like a Tom and Jerry character.
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Julia Garner and Jim Sturgess in a still from Apartment 7A.
That sort of in-on-the-joke fun is missing in this movie, which feels more like a companion piece to Garner’s two other films about women in peril – the #MeToo drama The Assistant, in which she played a overwhelmed personal secretary to a Harvey Weinstein-esque movie producer, and The Royal Hotel, in which she played a backpacker who finds herself at an Australian lodge overrun by menacing men. Garner injects in this film a brittle bravery that honours the legacy of Mia Farrow’s landmark performance in Rosemary’s Baby in all the right ways. It’s a better tribute, for instance, than what the movie decides to shoehorn in as an ill-conceived post-credits scene at the end.
Apartment 7A
Director – Natalie Erika James
Cast – Julia Garner, Diane Wiest, Jim Sturgess, Kevin McNally
Rating – 2/5
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