Apartment 7A
Following a devastating accident that halts her ambitions of being a famous stage performer, Terry Gionoffrio moves into the Bramford building, and across the hall from the generous Minnie and Roman Castevet who pay for her rent.
She starts to feel something is amiss with them, and those around them – and after a night with the Broadway producer, another Bramford resident – she soon discovers she is pregnant. As the weeks go by, she soon discovers that the Castevet’s, along with the residents of the Bramford building may have concocted her pregnancy – for their own greater good.
Direction
Directed by Natalie Erika James, in her second feature film. She gives a wonderful view of 1960’s New York, and it is completely believable that we are in this timeline.
There are some great shots as well, especially those within the Bramford building. There are some shots ‘through’ Terry’s front door peep hole at Minnie – as she begins to suspect things are amiss.
I loved some of the colours used, and felt that the use of yellows were great representations of Terry’s turmoil. She is slowly losing her sanity as well as being betrayed by these people who are meant to be looking after her. I had Whiplash feels in the use of colour. Well done!
Cast/Characters
Julia Garner is sensational as Terry. She has a wonderfully written arc of a young woman who is broken down by her body, becoming addicted to painkillers. The second act in which she becomes pregnant, and to “who” she is pregnant to. Just brilliant! Considering she was not a trained dancer, her abilities should be given a strong round of applause. The third act, in which she discovers the truth, and relents is brilliantly acted, showing a range of emotions.
The star of the show goes to Dianne Wiest who plays the role of Minnie Castevet. She is a mirror image in tone and “Brooklyn” cadence of voice to Ruth Gordon’s Oscar winning performance in Rosemary’s Baby.
Other cast members include Jim Sturgess as Alan Marchand, Kevin McNally as Roman Castevet.
Breakdown
I will start off by admitting that I have not seen Rosemary’s Baby, but in research, I’ve got enough knowledge about it to speak on it. This being a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby in which the character of Terry appears briefly in a scene with Rosemary.
Rosemary herself appears briefly here too at the very end of the events of this.
Starting with bittersweet moments between the Castevet’s and Terry – who is broken down by life having almost lost her foot in a tragic accident. This has caused her to become addicted to pills and booze to numb the pain. Seeing her in so much pain they take her in and take care of her.
That is when things start to unravel, she is ‘seemingly’ date raped by Marchant – and finds herself pregnant. Had this been a standalone movie, one could almost make the assumption that it is ‘all in her head’ that things are amiss. She is taken care of by the Casevet’s even more so, with their generous offer to take care of the child if she can’t (god damn Dianne Wiest was great in that scene!).
The third act, in which it is revealed just who the residents of the Bramford building are (they are satanists) and that Terry’s baby is going to be the “son of Satan” is confirmed, rather than hinted – does lose the integrity that the film was looking for. The scene in the church where it is revealed, and the cross even burns Terry felt out of place, and I wished it wasn’t included. Knowing less is more!
This then culminates with Terry ‘relenting’ and joining them – with a very memorable dance sequence to “Hail Satan” all before *** spoiler *** jumping out of the window killing herself (quite graphically too). However since Terry’s suicide is the start of the events of RB, viewers knowing that would not have been surprised.
The question of whether the film needed to exist? Did we need to know Terry’s story? She has no family, she lived on a pig farm in Nebraska… while I enjoyed the film – I wondered why that it needed to be done?
Overall
While I haven’t seen Rosemary’s Baby, yet, it is now on my one to watch list (it may be a 2026 watch however).
I really enjoyed this, and highly recommend it, if not just for Garner and Wiest’s performances alone.
3.5/5