Apartment 7A (Underappreciated Possession Horror)

 

At first glance, Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A looks identical to The First Omen: period legacy prequels to classic demon child movies, set six years apart; both by female directors, dealing with unwanted occultist-engineered pregnancies. They may walk the same path, but The First Omen stumbles, clumsy and shouting, while James’s film dances with a light step, honoring its predecessor while trying some moves of its own. Apartment 7A follows Terry, the woman chosen to bear Satan’s child before Rosemary showed up. The Castevets offer Terry, a Broadway hopeful trying to resume her dancing career after an injury, free lodging in the bougie Bramford building–thereby making her dependent on the old couple and vulnerable to their manipulation.

   

Uncharitable critics say Apartment 7A apes its predecessor too closely. It may hit similar beats, but context is everything. The married Rosemary believes her husband is her baby’s father; the single Terry’s pregnancy apparently results from date-rape. Apartment 7A gives us a harrowing scene in a back-alley abortionist’s office to remind us of the perils of restricting reproductive care access. While The First Omen’s period trappings are inconsistent, James’s film embodies the mid-1960s, from dusty mustard production design to soundtrack choices. The First Omen was set in the 1970s because the original film was, but Apartment 7A’s period resonates thematically. Prequels are tricky because the audience already knows the ending. Still, Julia Garner’s fearless performance and James’s careful composition manage to wring true tension and beauty out of the film’s closing minutes, and the last images cast Rosemary’s Baby itself in a new light. The events of the earlier film, we realize, are defined by Terry’s absence. Apartment 7A’s final stroke reminds us that behind every well-known story, there’s likely an untold tale of an ambitious, working-class woman who never had a prayer.

 

Written by Cthulen, Dead Dreamer

Apartment 7A (2024, US)
Natalie Erika James
4.6 / 5