Fantastic Fest 2024 review: APARTMENT 7A is a largely effective and spooky prequel

Prequel films are always an interesting challenge. How do you tell a part of a story that the audience already knows? How do you add tension to this story? How do you convey the feeling of it being necessary, especially when the story in question is one of the greatest horror films? It's always interesting to be able to play in someone else's sandbox, but it limits storytellers in what they can and can't do. It's certainly discouraging. Some prequel films rise to the occasion, others fail. Writers Christian White, Skylar James and Natalie Erika James (who also directed) certainly had a challenge ahead of them when they took on a prequel story Rosemary's babybut they've delivered something unique that can largely hold its own in the sandbox of its predecessor.

Apartment 7A takes place in the months leading up to the events of Rosemary's babyand follows Terry (Julia Garner), a Broadway dancer with stars in her eyes. She left her small town with the dream of making it big on the stage and has been on her way ever since. At the beginning of the film, she suffers an ankle injury from misusing a jump, causing her to lose a job and a lot of self-confidence.

She takes some time off to recover, but it's difficult for her. She doesn't earn any money and becomes a burden on her roommates. She also develops something of a drug problem as she struggles to come to terms with the things that have gone wrong in her life in such a short period of time. One night she gets a little out of control and wakes up unexpectedly safe and in Roman (Kevin McNally) and Minnie Castavette's (Dianne Wiest) beautiful apartment building. The couple met her by chance and took her to their home in the elegant Bramford residence.

If you are familiar with it Rosemary's babyMinnie and Roman are exactly what you'd expect – absolutely charming, a little funny and extremely generous. They offer Terry a permanent home while she gets back on her feet and all the love and support she could need. But their help doesn't come without strings attached, and as Terry soon finds out, there are other motivations at play. The Castavettes use their connections to put her in touch with a powerhouse producer, and soon she's not only starring in his new production, but playing a key role. After a cozy evening of drinks by the romantic fire, Terry finds out that she is pregnant. At the worst possible time. Your career is about to take off. Everything she's been working towards is so close. And obviously (at least to viewers) something isn't quite right with this pregnancy.

How many prequels, Apartment 7A suffers from its share of unnecessary connective tissue. It's as if the filmmakers can't go more than 7 or 8 minutes without reminding the audience what they're watching and how it relates to a horror classic. There are unnecessary details that are clumsily inserted (Terry cuts his hair, we get an unnecessary insertion of Adrian Marcato as a playwright, of all things we have a lot of character cameos from the first film) and other unnecessary moments. And while these can be frustrating if we put them aside, for the most part the film works, both as a prequel and as a standalone horror film.

While Rosemary Woodhouse had hoped for a pregnancy after arriving at Bramford, Terry is less than thrilled when she receives the news. James does a great job or really uses this theme throughout the film. This pregnancy is not good news for Terry. Her career is about to end and her options in 1965 are extremely limited. This makes this historical piece feel extremely current and modern as it connects to so many of the issues our country is currently facing. A woman's right to choose and the ideas of forced pregnancy that play a role in this narrative are all too real and situate the film in a very modern place.

James does an excellent job of placing this story in the same atmosphere that Polanski created. Rosemary's baby is a frightening film in many ways, but it's not a fun scary experience. It's subtle and slowly gets under your skin. James embraces this and continues it in her film, making it absolutely feel as if the two are set in the same universe. The effect is toned down somewhat because the audience is familiar with it Rosemary's baby I already know where the story is going, but that doesn't stop it from being a largely entertaining experience. It's interesting to see James bring new ideas to an established framework while keeping some of the original story components in play.

And if you're still not convinced, let me add this: Dianne Wiest, who plays Minnie, is 100% worth the price of admission. She took the mantle from the great Ruth Gordon and just ran with it. She has the same energy, speech patterns, and almost over-the-top characterization that Gordon brought to the first film. It's incredible on every level. The rest of the cast rounds things out well, and Julie Garner really brings the story to life by bringing Terry to life, but whenever Wiest was on screen I always had a big smile on my face.

In total, Apartment 7A is largely successful as both a prequel and a standalone film. It has the unfortunate impression that it is merely a prequel to a classic film, but it does so with grace for the most part and strives to tell its own story within that framework that is relevant to today's audiences. If you're looking for a scary movie this October, you can certainly do a worse movie, and it probably won't have Dianne Wiest's bonus performance, so you might as well give this movie a try and see what you think.

Film music: 4/5