MOVIE REVIEW: APARTMENT 7A

 

An ambitious young dancer, Terry Gionoffrio, dreams of fame and fortune in New York City. But, after suffering a devastating injury, an older, wealthy couple welcomes her into their home in the luxury apartment building, the Bramford. 

Director: Natalie Erika James

Cast: Julia Garner, Dianne Wiest, Jim Sturgess, Kevin McNally

Release Date: September 27, 2024

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rated R for some violent content and drug use.

Runtime: 1h 42m

Review:

Apartment 7A works better than it should as a companion piece to Rosemary's Baby, albeit unnecessary, thanks to competent and efficient direction and a strong turn from Julia Garner.  Natalie Erika James does her best to recreate the creepiness of the original while avoiding outright mimicry of Roman Polanski's original with a few fascinating flourishes that stand on their own.  She would have been better served to pave her own path more often throughout the film's brisk runtime in order for this entry to stand on its own.  There are just too many checkbox moments where the original's events or people are referenced even if it doesn't serve this particular story.   The set up is different enough to give this story a different angle but it never takes full advantage of it before it starts down its final, predetermined path.  It feels like a missed opportunity especially since the cast is more than up to the task.  Julia Garner brings a level of ambitious paired with trepidation to her character that makes her performance incredibly watchable throughout.  Garner's talent is on full display as her character goes through subtle, emotional turns as her plight gets more precarious.  It’s a solid performance that mostly avoids any Mia Farrow imitations outside of a late stage moment that the film could have done without.  Kevin McNally and Dianne Wiest turn in their best impressions of Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon as the Castevets.  McNally does a great job of capturing Blackmer's appearance and intonation in his line delivery.  Likewise, Wiest captures the distinctive voice from Ruth Gordon's Oscar winning turn as Minnie while giving her performance more of an outright menacing quality.  They'll never measure up to the original performance, but they are competent enough to work within the context of this film.  The same could be said for the film as whole since it’s well crafted and acted but never does enough to make it required viewing.

C+