Apartment 7A

I'm not mad about this. Probably because I'm not a fan of the original and to me, Julia Garner is a much better actress than Mia Farrow, so it was a delight to follow her journey. And of course Diane Wiest is always superb. You can see how much she relishes this role. The visuals were great, and I can't quite decide what hits harder - Terry's Liza Minelli cut or Satan's whole bedazzled look.

I don't understand why everyone keeps saying that it's the same movie as the original... Like, how is it the same? The basic premise of woman getting pregnant by a sinister force is the same, sure. But the lead character acts differently, and correct me if I'm wrong - and I might be because I've only seen the original once and I didn't like it - but Mia Farrow only found out what she gave birth to at the very end. And Terry got wise to things much faster and... well, spoilers aside, the story does not unravel in the same way in Apartment 7A.

Director Natalie Erika James embarks on a mission to give us a prequel that can at least match Roman Polanski's 1968 classic, and the truth is that we're left with a film with a great leading lady, but one that falls a few steps short of achieving the milestone of matching the original.

It has good ideas at its core, especially the dreamlike moments of its protagonist that resemble that atmosphere of 1968, but as we get deeper into the story we lose the strength that would lead us to a more satisfying horror impact, and also taking into account that it plays quite a bit with references to Rosemary's Baby in several parts.

What it does excel at is in presenting us with a great protagonist who is allowed to shine in a consecrating way, a Julia Garner who makes that leap to demonstrate what a great actress she is and the star she becomes with each job. On this occasion, she takes on her character with all the elegance, talent and first-class charisma, she makes the film her own and in turn the film works on the strength that the actress delivers in her moments, to reach a final climax where she is totally consecrated as the star of the show. The actress manages to transmit this personal drama in a very forceful way, where one can highlight as a great strength the depth and personality of a character with whom you connect at all times.

When we get into the substance that the film offers us, it is here where we find the lowest points of the proposal, and that is that we are left with a script that although it clearly addresses personal drama, when it must reach the moment of terror it lacks the necessary intensity to give us symbolic moments or moments of more enjoyment that allow the film to stand out more strongly as an excellent horror film, its strength only allows it to be a correct, but passive way of confronting sects, the devil and a prequel to a classic of the genre.

In any case, Apartment 7A works as a decent movie that doesn't waste time, largely due to its protagonist and a rather interesting direction. It may fall short in intentions and in more challenging ideas, but it fulfills its role as a movie that goes straight to platforms and without greater ambitions than to provide a moment of entertainment and that honestly does achieve this in several passages where it intelligently provides an ending to the journey that is the most rewarding of the entire film.

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.

I get that there are quite a few fans of the original (if you can call it that since this is a prequel), I understand that stories could have been tied better... But, you know what? This is a good movie. The main character is likeable, smart, and relatable. The story is interesting and well-paced. There are some creepy characters but they never felt cartoonish. I enjoyed it a lot and it's one of the best horror movies of 2024.

By now you probably know the story and even how it ends, but try to enjoy this movie as a stand-alone. Try not to bother yourself "nobody asked for this, originality is dead", watch it and you just might like it.

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.