The upcoming Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A debuts with a disappointing score on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Natalie Erika James, the movie follows dancer Terry Gionoffrio (Julia Garner) and the frightening occurrences that unfold after she moves in with the Castevets. Along with Garner, the cast of Apartment 7A includes Jim Sturgess, Amy Leeson, Scott Hume, and Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally, who portray Minnie and Roman Castevet, respectively. The film has generated interest from horror audiences, and now, ahead of its September 27 release on Paramount+, early reactions are starting to trickle in.
The first reviews for Apartment 7A are underwhelming, as the prequel debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 44%. That is significantly less than the critically acclaimed Rosemary’s Baby, which currently holds a 96% on the review aggregator.
What The Apartment 7A Rotten Tomatoes Score Means
The Prequel Doesn’t Hold Up To Rosemary’s Baby
Rosemary’s Baby is widely considered to be a genre classic, made long-standing by the nerve-racking premise and performances of Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon, who won the Academy Award for Supporting Actress. Achieving a similar level of success would be tough given the release strategy for Apartment 7A, and creating a new storyline presents more challenges, although further exploring the nefarious Minnie and Roman Castevet is an intriguing setup. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the early Rotten Tomatoes score, the movie pales in comparison to Rosemary’s Baby, but positive reviews could improve that number later on.
Apartment 7A
is the second attempt at reviving the iconic horror film. A sequel,
Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby,
was released in 1976.
Knowing the eventual fate of Terry could hinder some of the prequel, as it focuses on her time in the apartment. She briefly appeared in the 1968 movie, revealing that she lacked any family connection and that Minnie gave her a strange necklace, before supposedly jumping to her death. The Apartment 7A trailer provides an idea of what Terry’s life was like before Rosemary’s Baby, suggesting that the Castevets have been evil for years and showing that she might have been pregnant or known about their plan.
Our Take On The Apartment 7A Rotten Tomatoes Score
Negative Reactions Could Affect Viewership
Horror audiences will likely check out Apartment 7A, but beyond that, it will be interesting to see how the negative Rotten Tomatoes score impacts viewership. Moviegoers, or those familiar with Rosemary’s Baby, may be swayed against watching the prequel, especially if the rating goes down further by its premiere. Paramount+ features some popular content, and streaming numbers will give insight as to how well the film actually performed. Positive word of mouth and strong RT audience scores could also boost Apartment 7A, but these early reviews are a disappointing sign.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
