Prequel films are always an interesting challenge. How do you tell part of a story that the viewer already knows? How do you add tension to that story? How do you make it necessary, especially when the story in question is one of the best horror films? It’s always interesting to be able to play in someone else’s sandbox, but it does limit the storytellers in what they can and cannot do. It’s discouraging, that’s for sure. Some prequel films rise to the occasion, others sink. Writers Christian White, Skylar James, and Natalie Erika James (who also directed) certainly had a challenge when they took on a prequel story for Rosemary’s childbut they have delivered something unique that largely holds its own in the sandbox of its predecessor.

Apartment 7A takes place in the months leading up to the events of Rosemary’s childand 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 stage and has been going there ever since. When the film opens, she suffers an ankle injury when she misses a jump, causing her to lose a job and a lot of self-confidence.

She is taking some time off to recover, but it is difficult. She doesn’t bring in any money and becomes a burden to her housemates. She also develops a bit of a drug problem, as she struggles to cope with the things that have gone wrong in her life in such a short time. One night, she spirals out of control and unexpectedly wakes up safely in Roman (Kevin McNally) and Minnie Castavette’s (Dianne Wiest) beautiful apartment complex. The couple met her and brought her back to their home in the elegant house in the Bramford apartment complex.

If you are familiar with Rosemary’s childMinnie and Roman are exactly what you expect: perfectly charming, a little comical and generous. They offer Terry a permanent place to stay while she gets back on her feet, and all the love and support she needs. But their help doesn’t come without strings, and as Terry soon discovers, there are other motives at play. The Castavettes use their connections to put her in touch with a powerful producer and soon she is not only starring in his new production, but also playing a leading role. After a nice evening of drinks by a romantic fire, Terry discovers that she is pregnant. At the worst possible time. Her career is about to take off. Everything she has been working towards is so close. And it’s clear (at least to viewers) that something isn’t quite right about this pregnancy.

Like many prequels, Apartment 7A suffers from its share of unnecessary connective tissue. It’s as if the filmmakers can’t go more than seven or eight minutes without reminding the audience what they’re watching and how it compares to a horror classic. There are unnecessary details clumsily inserted (Terry cuts her hair, we get an unnecessary insertion of Adrian Marcato as the playwright, plus we have a lot of character cameos from the first film) and other unnecessary moments. And while those can be frustrating, if we put them aside, the film largely works as both a prequel and 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 and really uses this theme throughout the film. This pregnancy is not happy news for Terry. It threatens to end her career and her options in 1965 are extremely limited. It makes this historical piece feel extremely current and modern, as it speaks to so many of the issues facing our country at this particular moment. A woman’s right to choose and the views on forced pregnancy at play in this story are all too real and give the film a very modern place.

James does a great job of centering this story in the same atmosphere that Polanski established. Rosemary’s child is a terrifying film on many levels, but it is not a fun, terrifying experience. It is subtle and slowly creeps under your skin. James embraces that and continues it in her film as well, so it definitely feels like these are set in the same universe. The effect is slightly reduced because the audience is familiar with it Rosemary’s child already knows where the story is going, but that doesn’t stop it from being a largely enjoyable experience. It’s interesting to see James inject new ideas into an established framework while keeping some of the original story components in play.

And if you’re not already sold, let me add this: Dianne Wiest playing Minnie is 100% worth the price of admission. She picked up the mantle of the great Ruth Gordon and just ran with it. She has the same energy, the same speech patterns, and the same almost exaggerated characterization that Gordon brought to the first film. It’s incredible on every level. The rest of the cast rounds things out nicely, and Julie Garner really centers the story with the way she brings Terry to life, but there was always a big smile on my face whenever Wiest was on screen.

All in all, Apartment 7A is largely successful, both as a prequel and as a standalone film. The film has the unfortunate weight of simply being a prequel to a classic film, but for the most part it does so with grace and strives to tell its own story within that framework, relevant to today’s audiences. If you’re looking for a spooky movie this October, you could definitely do worse, and it probably won’t feature Dianne Wiest’s bonus performance, so you might as well give this one a try and see what you think.

Movie score: 4/5