Apartment 7A is the prequel to the 1968 horror classic Rosemary's Baby. It was directed by Roman Polanski and based on Ira Levin's novel. The 2024 film by Natalie Erika James takes viewers back into the sinister New York apartment building, Bramford. It's the same one in which the original film's events unfolded.
However, instead of focusing on Rosemary Woodhouse's story, this prequel concentrates on Terry Gionoffrio, who was only briefly introduced in the earlier film. In the movie, she also gets caught up in the Castevets' demonic machinations. The commonality between the two films extends beyond the setting and into how they intertwine within themes of control, manipulation, and sacrifice.
Apartment 7A seeks to fill in the tragic backstory of Terry, a depth to what might otherwise have been a brief role in Rosemary's Baby. The difference here is that the movie tells how Terry's ambitions and vulnerabilities take her down a dangerous path to mirror Rosemary's fate. The film extends into the universe of Rosemary's Baby, taking up a challenge that would compare to its original.
Terry Gionoffrio's direct connection to Rosemary’s Baby
Apartment 7A transforms the character of Terry Gionoffrio from the original 1968 film adaptation, with the main actress Julia Garner. In the previous film, Terry is a minor character, but her death is a key element of the storyline. She was the "chosen" before Rosemary began being in the crosshairs of the Castevets.
Although in the prequel, Terry is no longer the side character, but rather the protagonist, her life is unfolding before the audience as they learn of her time before her fatal death. In this movie, shot in the middle of the 1960s, a stage actress named Terry winds up moving into the Bramford apartment building. Just like with Rosemary, Terry becomes trapped inside the evil world of the Castevets.
The Castevets, once again portrayed by Roman (Kevin McNally) and Minnie (Dianne Wiest), offer Terry a Faustian bargain: fame and fortune if she will accept to carry a child affiliated with the occult. This is the storyline in beats that are very similar to Rosemary's Baby, but gives a new perspective on the sacrifice of women under the pressures of society and personal ambition.
As Variety's Siddhant Adlakha would put it, though this film is to break its mold to make things feel more novel, at times it:
"Feels trapped between highly original flourishes and retreads of existing imagery."
That duality is a sign of how the movie gets stuck in precarious bids as it tries to be a faithful prequel and a completely independent work.
However, one dimension does come with Apartment 7A: a torn woman, who has to choose between her career and the changing life caused by her choices.
Themes of control and manipulation in Apartment 7A
In many ways, Apartment 7A treads familiar horror territory, but it also speaks to modern anxieties about bodily autonomy and patriarchal control, particularly in the context of pregnancy.
Natalie Erika James spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, wanting to explain that, for her, the particular power of the horror genre lay in its ability to represent Terry as a victim of physical and emotional manipulation.
Just when one reads more about forced motherhood and societal expectations than ever before, with Roe v. Wade repealed in 2022, the film comes timely.
James explained how it was to take on a prequel to such a revered film, stating,
“One of the big considerations was making sure that there was a separation between Apartment 7A and the original film’s creators not being involved in this one.”
She added that Apartment 7A was taken from Ira Levin's book, but speaks to the issue in a contemporary light. Terry is not alone in her plight; many women are today cornered by forces beyond their control. In Rosemary's Baby, Rosemary is manipulated by everyone in her life, including her husband.
Similarly, Terry is manipulated, traumatized, and gaslighted by those she trusts. But this time, rather than a gradual, slow-burning psychological horror characterizing the original, Apartment 7A gives more overt fears about the house.
It can be seen in Julia Garner's portrayal of Terry and how her vulnerability is manipulated in disturbing ways. Adlakha noted that the film shows “the allure of stardom” and the temptation of making a deal with the Devil—a theme as old as time, but recontextualized in a modern framework.
Where to watch Apartment 7A?
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Apartment 7A is streaming on Paramount+. Fans of Rosemary's Baby can spend their Halloween returning to the creepy atmosphere of the Bramford building.
The film's take on the horror classic will interest old audiences and not alienate new viewers, thanks to the efforts of working through the struggles of taking a step outside of the shadow cast by its predecessor.
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