Departamento 7A

Okay. So I liked the period part of this.

And did I remember before I started watching this that it was a prequel to Ira Levin's novel/Roman Polanski's film? No. Didn't dawn on me until I said to myself, "Self, there's Dianne Wiest! And she's doing a Ruth Gordon impression? Oh, duh. This is that Rosemary's Baby cash grab that was put into production because Satanic pregnancies are all the rage in this post-Dobbs landscape." I think this is the 8th devil fetus movie this year alone. But here we are.

I like Dianne Wiest. I don't think Julie Garner was horrible. But this seemed more like a rehash of the Mia Farrow classic - with some aspects a scene-for-scene matchup. Yeah, it's with a single unwed mom set in the pre-Roe era. I mean that is the film's entire premise and reason for existing.

But the film doesn't expand on the Leviniverse beyond saying that things at the Bramford go back before the Woodhouses moved in.

Also, I don't get why they didn't just get Josh Groban for the Josh Groban guy. The did-get guy was easy to look at but the entire time I couldn't stop thinking he was supposed to be Josh Groban.

The movie is watchable. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing must-see, nothing revelatory narrative-wise. It's fine. I did find the ending somewhat pleasant while odd but entirely foreseeable.

Serving as a prequel to Rosemary's Baby, Apartment 7A is an unnecessary outing that does create intrigue due to its connection to the 1968 horror classic but is unable to sustain it for long despite featuring a similar premise. Slow, boring & forgettable for the most part, the only element that works in its favour is the neat production design and although the cast tries to capture the nuances of the reprising characters, the performances aren't compelling enough. It is devoid of the escalating paranoia that the original captured so well, is tediously paced from start to finish, and goes full cringe in its final moments to finish as yet another dull, derivative & disappointing attempt at reviving an existing classic.

Apartment 7A" is surprisingly a very strong film. The storyline stays closely aligned with the original, and the cinematography, both inside and outside the apartment, evokes strong memories of the original masterpiece.

The performances are outstanding, particularly from Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally, who excel in their roles as the Castevets. The film features thoughtful nods to Rosemary's Baby throughout, and as a prequel, the plot is well-crafted and cohesive.

One of the highest compliments I can offer is that Apartment 7A left me eager to immediately revisit Rosemary's Baby. Together, they would make a fantastic double feature.

This is not enough of a movie to the name, Rosemary baby is probably the best horror movie of all time, this movie is good but is not trying enough.

Its an interesting movie to watch and Garner is an incredible actress and everyone knows that, but the story and the distinct horror presented in here is not solid enough and that's a shame because this movie looks very good.

The other cast does an increible job too, it really feels like a proper prequel of RB but its lacking the suspense, its s shame really it should have been better than this

Its never going to be in the same level as the original but its ok, that's obvious and expected, this was a good try.

Everything about 'Apartment 7A' is a little strange to me. You're making a prequel to a film, 56 years later, that is basically the exact same story, and the best title you could come up with for it was 'Apartment 7A'? Weird, weird.

The movie itself isn't terrible and it isn't great. It falls into a middle ground of nothingness. It does everything competently enough that no one is going be offended by it or bothered enough to complain about it. But it also takes so few risks and chances that no one is ever going to remember it existed pretty soon.

The ending is probably the one thing the film has going for it. I thought it was a very well done scene. If the movie had been willing to do more things like that, it may have been a more memorable experience. 6/10.