Apartment 7A Review: Rosemary’s Baby Prequel Misses the Mark

Though Apartment 7A is elevated by a star performance from Julia Garner, this prequel fails to set itself apart from the original film.

Earlier this year, The First Omen defied the odds, receiving high praise from critics for its uniqueness. Now we have Natalie Erika James’ Apartment 7A, which premiered at Fantastic Fest 2024 and is a prequel to one of the best horror films of all time, Rosemary’s Baby.

When I first heard about Apartment 7A, I was excited but apprehensive. Rosemary’s Baby is so highly regarded, and this prequel certainly had big shoes to fill. But regardless of my caution, the one thing that put my faith in the project is the fact that Julia Garner plays the leading role of Terry. This, accompanied by the film’s striking, sinister poster (I’ll admit the devil in the mirror looking at Terry did give me the heebie-jeebies), skyrocketed this feature to the top of my Fantastic Fest watchlist.

Apartment 7A is set in 1965 and follows a dancer named Terry Gionoffrio. After an accident occurs in Terry’s life, she meets Minnie (Dianne Wiest) and Roman Castevet (Kevin McNally). They invite her to stay rent-free in the apartment next to theirs, located in a beautiful building named The Bramford. Though at first, Terry’s new life is a dream come true, not all is what it seems. Her neighbors are rather unusual, and as time goes on, strange things begin to occur at her new residence.

As Terry, Julia Garner certainly doesn’t disappoint. Some of her best work is on display here, and if she is the reason you seek out Apartment 7A, you will walk away from the experience blown away by her performance, which emphasizes just how versatile she is as an actress. Terry exhibits so many raw human emotions (vulnerability, strength, resilience, and bravery), and Garner reflects each with such ease and believability. Even if you can’t relate to the accident that occurs in Terry’s life, Garner allows you to feel the effects of what our leading lady is experiencing every minute she’s on screen.

Then there’s Apartment 7A’s stunning and impressive aesthetics that perfectly capture the time period and make you feel as though you have been transported back to the 60s. From the set design to the costumes to the hair and makeup, it’s clear how much time was dedicated to perfecting all these details to ensure viewers feel they are watching a movie taking place during this decade, as opposed to a modern prequel that’s pretending to be but doesn’t quite succeed. Some of the dance routines in the film are also so elegantly and meticulously choreographed that you will find yourself completely immersed in Terry’s world of dancing, which gives the feature an effective setup before the horror elements creep in.

But despite the film’s strengths, the narrative is Apartment 7A’s biggest downfall, as it feels more like a remake of Rosemary’s Baby with a few minor details changed than a prequel with its own identity. Ultimately, the feature plays things too safe and never strays too far away from the original film’s concepts or takes risks to exhibit creative ideas of its own. Other than Garner’s outstanding performance, which completely overshadows the movie, the story lacks suspense and fails to spark intrigue or keep the audience on their toes. This is because the story’s formula closely resembles the original, so after about a third of the way through, we know what is coming from a mile away.

Though Apartment 7A may look the part and is equipped with a strong lead performance from Garner, there is nothing particularly memorable or distinctive about the story. This is a great shame given how much potential this prequel had and the many different unique, creative, and bold ideas that could have been explored. And with Garner onboard to exhibit such greatness, I wish Apartment 7A had taken a much more inventive route with this story.

Apartment 7A premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 20-23, 2024. Read our list of 15 movies to watch at Fantastic Fest 2024!