With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it makes complete sense that 2024 has been loaded with not only horror prequels, but demonic thrillers brimming with feminist rage. On the heels of “Immaculate” and “The First Omen” comes “Relic” director Natalie Erika James’ precursor to the Roman Polanski’s masterwork, “Rosemary’s Baby,” chronicling the fate of Terry (Julia Garner), a young actress targeted by her creepy neighbors. The great Dianne Wiest is such a hoot in the role originated by Ruth Gordon that she has me pining for a spin-off series, “Only Satanists in the Building.” While there’s nothing particularly surprising about the picture, especially for those familiar with the 1968 classic, James has enough fresh ideas—including some inventively nightmarish musical numbers—to keep one’s attention rapt all the way up to the satisfying finale.–Capsule review written by contributor Matthew Fagerholm
We had the opportunity to speak with filmmaker Natalie Erika James about her follow-up feature to her directorial debut “Relic,” “Apartment 7A.” The film is an original adaption and prequel to the book and the 1968 film, “Rosemary’s Baby”. In this film, the character Terry Gionoffrio (Julia Garner, Ozark) is fully fleshed out as a struggling young dancer who suffers a devastating injury. She finds herself drawn in by dark forces when a peculiar, well-connected older couple (two-time Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series) and promises her a shot at fame.
I spoke with Natalie about her collaboration with Julia Garner on this dynamic and pivotal role, and working with legendary actress Dianne Wiest. Just like in “Relic,” the central location of the film is its own character: The Bramford, based on the New York building The Dakota (they also filmed in one of the oldest buildings in London, Wilton’s Music Hall). We also talked about Natalie’s work with the production designer Simon Bowles (“A Quiet Place: Day One,” and “Belle”) and how they transformed modern-day London to look like New York City in the 1960s.
“Apartment 7A” is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
Natalie, can you talk about developing Terry’s character?
In the original film and in the book, there’s clues to who she is, but it’s not fully fleshed out yet. When I came onto the project, it was already built into the script that she was a Broadway dancer, which I really loved because of her ambition and how she is career-focused. I liked the idea of that instead of trying to recreate Rosemary’s journey with her desire to be a mother. Terry’s character kind of inhabits both Guy [played by John Cassavetes in the original film] and Rosemary [Mia Farrow] in her journey. She is both vessel for a satanic spawn as well as an agent of her own bargain with the devil.
How was it working with Julia Garner in developing this character?
She’s incredible. I had always been a big fan of her work. I first saw her in “We Are What We Are,” and continued to love her in Ozark and “The Assistant.” I just really appreciated how she seems to disappear into each character. And I think for Terry, we were really looking for someone who had that intensity, fire and an incredible vulnerability as well. She embodies that so beautifully.
I was really excited when her name came up in casting conversations. I knew she would be a really great fit for the character, and she’s such a gorgeous actor. She’s very visual, and likes to have a lot of images to play off of to feed into her performance. I mean, she had a mammoth task. She’s basically in every scene of the film, which is a lot for an actor to tackle. There were also so many dance rehearsals to prepare for this role, along with a singing coach. She really gave it her all.
Like “Relic,” I love how you make your your location its own character. Can you talk about working with your production designer Simon Bowles to create 1960s New York in London. Also, I’d love to hear about your experience of filming in Wilton’s Music Hall.
We definitely were really intentional with wanting to keep the continuity of The Bramford being The Dakota in New York, and the design of it. And it has such a beautiful kind of style to it. It’s prestige and it’s luxury, but it’s also kind of falling apart in the story at least. It’s got this really oppressive gothic revival presence. It really is a character in the film. My production designer, Simon Bowles, was so incredible at recreating the setting, not just in the sets, but also his team tried to match the furniture in Cassevets’ apartment as well. That kind of detail I was blown away by. Filming in London for New York in the sixties is really tough. With the size of the streets and the width, you are really limited in what can pass for New York. But in combination with our visual effects team, we were just really strategic with how we covered it. There’s such a joy in creating period worlds that really are immersive. Sometimes you wish you could just point a camera anywhere, but you have to be very strategic on where the camera goes. It’s a lot to take on.
It’s great that you mentioned Wiltons Music Hall because I also loved, in addition to the mythology, this idea of an underground or secret kind of theater. I’m so excited by this idea of theater as ritual essentially feeding into their satanic rituals. And Wiltons is such a beautiful and historical theater in London. It was such a joy to be able to shoot in such a gorgeous location.
Can you talk about working with Dianne Wiest? She was amazing. It’s quite an undertaking to follow Ruth Gordon in that role, but she makes it her own.
Oh she was incredible. I think we were both really conscious of not trying to recreate Ruth Gordon’s performance because it’s so iconic in its own way. So we spent a lot of time looking for a distinct kind of voice reference, and we settled on Mae Questel, who is best known for voicing Betty Boop. We went for her natural voice, which has this kind of sweetness, but the rhythms of it seem kind of unhinged as well. It felt like a good fit.
