Apartment 7A (2024)

Apartment 7A tells the story leading up to the beginning of Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968). A prequel. The opening scenes in Rosemary's Baby have been smartly dovetailed by the new film, over half a century later, to make the story seem continuous. So if you've not seen either, it might be a good idea to watch Apartment 7A first for the chronology and storyline!

Julia Garner, as we've now come to expect, is excellent in the role of Terry, a hopeful dancer coming to New York for fame, fortune and dancing! In a scene assured to make the viewer frown and take a sharp intake of breath, she knackers her ankle at an audition. On the way home she feels sick, outside the apartment building which is also the setting of Rosemary's Baby later. The friendly couple, Minnie and Roman, who try to do so much to help Rosemary later, take Terry in, make her their tenant in a spare apartment next to theirs and spookily arrange things around her to make her dreams come true - much like they will later do for Rosemary. At a price - and not a financial one! She becomes their all-but adopted daughter. They say they are happy to, as they never had kids of their own.

So now the spooky stuff starts to notch up as Terry is exposed to a string of weird incidents and disturbing visual stuff, all the time being fed consumables by the elderly couple - just like they later do for Rosemary. The building is eerily equipped with sinister connections between apartments, dark corners, strange stuff going on within its walls - you get the picture! And I'm now trying desperately not to spoil anything - assuming squarely that you have not seen either of these films.

Rosemary's Baby is a fabulous demonstration of suspense and anxiety from the maestro director of which Hitchcock would be proud and Mia Farrow attacks the titular role flawlessly. Rosemary and Terry both deteriorate physically and mentally as they are exposed to similar difficulties in the building. Slightly differently for Terry, as she is lonely and alone, whereas Rosemary is happily married - so less dependent on the older couple. In fact, the young couple are often annoyed by their interfering ways much earlier in the film than the lonely Terry is in Apartment 7A. But the characters are both, on the face of it, horribly manipulated by those they trust around them as paranoia creeps in as the similar exposure of what's going on in the building lead to not-so-different climaxes.

Because one follows directly on from the other, clearly the continuity is there to enjoy and whichever way round you watch them, by the time you see the second one, you'll know the secrets of the building and trappings, so that makes it a bit difficult not to create a spoiler for yourself! But both films are really well done, I think. The classic Rosemary's Baby is matched in many ways by the new Apartment 7A, but also different in others. The acting by all players in both films is top-notch and they are both beautifully shot, making good use of the sets. They are both filled with chills, terror and horror! But watch the new one first! Both are out there in streaming services as I write.