Roman Polanski’s work with ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ widely considered one of the greats when it comes to horror films, set the bar high for anyone wishing to explore the genre. This film received a television sequel and even a remake which featured Zoe Saldaña. The legacy of the original ‘A Father’s Story’ is still present in these films, such as those featured at the film festival held every summer in Somerset called The Fantastic Fest. In this way, the film ‘Apartment 7A’ by Natalie Erika James is suffered under the disadvantage of being compared to other films. It is a comparison that most certainly would overshadow ‘The First Omen,’ a rather remarkable film released earlier this year. However, ‘The Omen’ inspires startling visions, standing willingly against everything it previously stood for. In truth, unlike “Apartment 7A,” the movie sincerely strives to be great while placing horror at its core, unlike the smaller film that seems rather reluctant to depart mummy’s house.
The Emmy-winning actor of “Ozark,” acts Terry Gionoffrio who will appear as the character that fans of Polanski’s movie will fondly remember from the past of Poor Rosemary Woodhouse’s saga who meets Terry in the eerie Bramford’s basement only to witness her lifeless daggered remains on the pavement some moments later. James takes this minor character into “Rosemary’s Baby” and pictures her last weeks, outlining the trajectory of the woman which the Evil Powers That Be of New York City were trying to make the mother of the antichrist before Rosemary.
Terry is a dancer in 1965 who’s very unfortunate to have had an accident while on stage, and this makes her very paranoid towards her prospects in the industry. A flashback during the audition for a show is most probably the best scene of the film where even after times where their actress, Terry is injured, the director of the play orders her shoulder twist numerous times. This triggers discomfort and pain on her end. The young woman being pushed to the greatest extremes is an interesting sight to the show’s producer played by Jim Sturgess. She is literally pushing the boundaries. No, she is not looking for acting jobs. The world knows what this Hugo is all about. If you looked closely, you could connect the dots of Levin’s book and Polanski’s film, and realized that he had that particular ambition: getting a woman pregnant in hopes of delivering the Anti-Christ.
Upon reaching the building of his Hazel apartment, Terry faints and is adopted by the Castevets, portrayed in this scene by Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally. The latter has a much toned down interpretation of the character Roman, on the other hand, the Oscar winner Dianne Wiest clearly goes ALL OUT on the character of Minnie Castevet and appears to be trying to do a little bit of Ruth Gordon impersonation but doesn’t quite get there. Winning an Oscar the first time around is a good reason to seek inspiration, but though Ruth’s delivery was very much natural, Wiest’s interpretation borders dangerously close to a caricature of an overstated New York accent as she tries to take that place. I had the impression of being in the presence of the mother of George Costanza on more than one occasion.
It is common knowledge, of course, that the nice people Castevet are Woozles in the Bramford and that the unfortunate Terry is the latest of their prey. While “Apartment 7A” deviates a bit more from the canon of its parent work than is probably justified, in reality, many of us know what befalls Terry and this knowledge presages doom from the very beginning of the proceedings. Garner struggles to remove herself from this mess but she remains trapped by a spectator that abandons the crux of the original interpretation which is probably most importantly, the context. Just witness the first scene from “Rosemary’s Baby” and see for yourself how Polansky approached the same environment with both a sense of novelty and one that, however, was consistent with people’s expectations. There’s no depicition of character to the production design at work in this drama. It is but a back stage.
In no way is “Apartment 7A” as thematically exploitable as it should have been, as it lost the gaslighting aspect of Rosemary’s marriage in the original, but doesn’t bring anything in that is more or less. Does this consider being a performer crossing the line? It most certainly could have been a case of an overzealous work “Rosemary’s Baby” crossed with “Black Swan”. That would have made for a captivating evening. It is disappointing however, that Terry’s character as a dancer feels overly simply of trying to present an outline of a plot for the film, but rather than explore the interesting themes of it. Yet with all of this forgettable directing, there’s Julia Garner, doing SO much for a character with so little development. She’s always such an intelligent actress in the kinds of moves she makes, interactively weaving with voice and action to remain captivating throughout the movie right up till the awesome last moment. There is a particular irony to the fact that in the end, the film about an artist reaching her limits and pretty much only being used as a body was in the end a vehicle for showcasing a performer only.
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