Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
    Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Reveal promotional image

    Battlefield 6 Classes, Maps, And More: Everything You Need To Know

    07/31/2025
    A glimpse at all the upcoming Star Wars stories coming to the galaxy

    Star Wars Stories: What We Learned At SDCC 2025

    07/25/2025
    Blindspot episode still

    It’s been 5 years since ‘Blindspot’ ended. Why haven’t you watched it yet?

    07/24/2025
    Strange Scaffold

    Strange Scaffold Summer Showcase Delivers Bizarre And Brilliant Games

    07/22/2025
  • Fantasia Festival
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Apartment 7A’ Fails To Establish An Identity

FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Apartment 7A’ Fails To Establish An Identity

James Preston PooleBy James Preston Poole09/23/20244 Mins Read
Apartment 7A
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Apartment 7A is entirely wrongheaded in conception. Rosemary’s Baby is a film built on a slow burn as the truth slowly unspools. How does the Paramount+ prequel recapture that tension? Simply put, it doesn’t, but Apartment 7A has enough individual merit as a standalone horror film that it almost stands on its own, although not entirely.

Julia Garner turns in an impressively understated performance as Terry Gionoffrio, who audiences might remember as the character who throws herself out of the window at the start of Rosemary’s Baby. When we meet her in Apartment 7A, Terry is a young dancer living in New York City who blows her shot at fame after an onstage accident leaves her injured. Descending into addiction, she’s taken in by elderly couple Roman (Kevin McNally) and Minnie Castevet (Dianne Wiest), who let her stay in the titular Apartment 7A. Their hospitality improves her life tremendously. She gets another crack at the stage life, while in the background, sinister machinations make her a pawn in the game of evil.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Director Natalie Erika James seems like a really promising talent. She maintains a tight control of tone as well as a razor-sharp focus on Terry’s realistic struggles to find her footing. James and Julia Garner feel like they’re on the same wavelength in terms of making sure that Apartment 7A feels like a frog in a slow boiling pot, letting a gradual evil take hold. Aside from a glossy sheen customary to many streaming service exclusive films, James’ cinematographer Arnau Valls Colomer has a decent grip on the place and time of 1964 New York that becomes more oppressive as Terry’s mental state starts to change.

There’s an impressive inkling of an original idea about the price of fame and just how much Terry is willing to endure in that pursuit. Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) shines as a shady industry figure. Unfortunately, Apartment 7A is too focused on being a prequel to truly carve out its own path. That could work, taking us into the inner workings of the Satanic cult and expanding out on what we know, assuming the audience has seen Rosemary’s Baby. That’s not quite how Apartment 7A works, however.

The woefully underwritten script by Natalie Erika James, Christian White, and Skylar James wants to replicate the slow burn of Rosemary’s Baby. That could work if the film was divorced from Rosemary’s Baby, giving new audiences their own version. Yet, Apartment 7A wants to remind audiences that the original film exists.

One way of doing that is by having Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally essentially do impressions of their counterparts from the original—quite well, I might add. Another is in a very obvious recreation of the original’s bedroom scene. At one point, Apartment 7A completely gives up trying to stand alone and starts treading the same path.

The ending scene is the one moment where Apartment 7A truly makes a case for itself. Without giving it away, it marries dance, Satanism, destiny, and the track, “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. It’s the kind of scene where the film was built around getting to, and it’s easy to see why. It works to such a degree that it almost sells the concept of a prequel entirely. If the whole film had this measure of inspired lunacy, this review would read quite differently.

It’s commendable that Apartment 7A is not overly referential to the original film. Still, it’s far too reverential to the point where it almost feels scared to do its own thing, leading to a movie with a light case of an identity crisis. Natalie Erika James showcases her talent enough to prevent Apartment 7A from becoming a slog. Still, outside of Julia Garner’s commitment, there’s nothing fresh under the hood to recommend visiting Apartment 7A.

Apartment 7A starts streaming on Paramount+ on September 27, 2024.

Apartment 7A
  • 5/10
    Rating - 5/10
5/10

TL;DR

Natalie Erika James showcases her talent enough to prevent Apartment 7A from becoming a slog. Still, outside of Julia Garner’s commitment, there’s nothing fresh under the hood to recommend visiting Apartment 7A.

  • Watch Now on Paramount+ with Our Affiliate Link

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleTIFF 2024 Review: ‘Harbin’ Inspires Despite Hollow Nature
Next Article FANTASTIC FEST: ‘I, The Executioner’ Is More Than A Sequel
James Preston Poole

Related Posts

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

08/02/2025
Brandon Routh and co in Ick
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Ick’ Is A Near Perfect Horror-Comedy

07/29/2025
Bad Bunny and Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2
5.0

REVIEW: ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Earns More Shrugs Than Laughs

07/29/2025
Hi-Five
6.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘Hi-Five’ Introduces A Scrappy, Superpowered Team Up

07/28/2025
Still from Haunted Mountains The Yellow Taboo
5.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘Haunted Mountains: The Yellow Taboo’ Gets A Little Lost In The Weeds

07/26/2025
Dakota Gorman in HELLCAT
6.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘HELLCAT’ Runs High In Tension But Loses Steam

07/25/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Wildgate promotional key art
9.0
PC

REVIEW: ‘Wildgate’ Is Co-Op Space Mayhem Done Right

By Adrian Ruiz07/25/2025Updated:07/30/2025

Built for friends and tuned for competition, Wildgate is messy in the best way: smart, surprising, and bursting with room to grow.

Glass Heart
7.0
TV

REVIEW: ‘Glass Heart’ Offers Messy, Musical Catharsis

By Allyson Johnson07/22/2025

The musical drama series ‘Glass Heart’ soars when it focuses on the epic performances of it’s fictional band, TENBLANK.

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

By Jason Flatt08/02/2025

An Honest Life is an overly severe misfire about a law student who falls in with anarchist burglars that can’t decide who it resents more.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here