8 Ways Rosemary’s Baby Prequel, Apartment 7A, Changes The Original Movie After 56 Years

Warning! This post contains spoilers for Apartment 7A.

Although Apartment 7A serves as a direct prequel to Rosemary’s Baby, its story developments change many aspects of the original film’s narrative. Directed by Natalie Erika James, Apartment 7A has received an underwhelming critical reception compared to its parent film. While Rosemary’s Baby still boasts an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 96%, Apartment 7A is not even halfway there with a 39% score. However, despite its low critical rating, Apartment 7A can be appreciated for its performances and ability to add new depth to the original movie’s story.

By following the story of a side character, Terry, from Rosemary’s Baby, Apartment 7A sheds new light on everything from the Castevets’ history to their previous targets. Apartment 7A‘s ending also draws a clear picture of how its events paved the way for several story beats in Rosemary’s Baby, creating a compelling narrative bridge between the two films. At the same time, new revelations in the prequel film also change many previously established aspects of Rosemary’s Baby‘s story.

8 The Truth Behind Lily Gardenia’s Death

Lily Gardenia Was Murdered

When Guy and Rosemary’s agent shows them a house in the Bramford building in Rosemary’s Baby‘s opening arc, they notice the home is still heavily furnished with the precious owner’s belongings. When they ask the homeowner about it, he reveals that the home’s previous tenant, Lily Gardenia, passed away a few days ago. After Rosemary asks him if Lily died inside the house, the agent assures her that she died in a hospital. Although Rosemary’s Baby reveals nothing else about Lily’s fate beyond this scene, Rosemary later learns the previous tenant was a part of the building’s cult.

Apartment 7A confirms this and shows how Lily, like other cult members, wanted to bring the Anti-Christ to the human world. However, somewhere along the line, she realized that the cult was on the wrong path and had to be stopped before it was too late. After her initial efforts to convince Minnie to stop failed, she resorted to extreme measures by setting out to kill Terry. However, before she could get Terry out of the way and stop her from giving birth to the Anti-Christ, someone else murdered her, realizing that she had become a liability to the cult.

7 Minnie & Roman’s Other Targets

Since Rosemary’s Baby reveals little about Minnie and Roman Castevet’s cult’s origins and their previous victims, it is hard not to assume that they started by targeting Terry and then moved on to Rosemary. Apartment 7A confirms that another woman was lured into the couple’s trap before Rosemary and Terry moved to the apartment building. After Terry moves to her new home in the Bramford building in Apartment 7A, she finds a shoe with the name “Joan” on it. When she asks Minnie about it, Minnie reveals the previous tenant left the home in a hurry without telling anyone.

At first, Terry believes her. However, as the film progresses, and she grows increasingly suspicious about the Castevets’ motives, she sets out to learn the truth about Joan’s fate. Her hunt for answers leads her to a church where a nun tells her that Joan died after getting hit by a bus. Although Joan’s death was dismissed as an accident, many bystanders swore someone was chasing her. These details confirm that Joan tried to escape the cult after learning what they were doing to her, but someone killed her before she could leave and expose the building’s residents.

6 Guy’s Predecessor In The Cult

Guy Was Alan Marchand’s Replacement

In Rosemary’s Baby, the cult uses Guy as a mediator to manipulate Rosemary into unwittingly participating in their evil schemes. Apartment 7A shows that before Guy, an influential man named Alan Marchand played a similar role and tricked Terry into falling for the cult’s trap. However, he is not a part of Rosemary’s Baby‘s roster because Terry murdered him for harming her.

5 Terry’s Drug Addiction

Apartment 7A Establishes Terry Was Never A Junkie

When Terry meets Rosemary in Rosermary’s Baby, she implies the Castevets got her off the streets and helped her recover from her drug addiction. In Apartment 7A, however, Terry assures the Castevets that she is not a “junkie” when she first meets them. Before they give her a place to stay in the Bramford building, Terry is also not homeless. Instead, she lives with her best friend Annie. Although Apartment 7A initially establishes Terry is addicted to pain medication, the film completely ignores her addiction problem after she moves to the central building.

4 How Minnie Treats The Cult’s Targets

Terry Gets None Of Minnie’s Signature Recipes From Rosemary’s Baby

After learning about Rosemary’s pregnancy in Rosemary’s Baby, Minnie starts giving her a strange cocktail of herbs, claiming that it will fulfill her requirement for vitamins. She also offers her something to eat with the cocktail. In Apartment 7A, however, she gives Terry no such things, even after Terry agrees to give birth to the child. Minnie also seems a lot more indifferent towards Terry in Apartment 7A than she is with Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby.

3 Terry And Rosemary’s Conversations

Apartment 7A’s Portrayal Of Terry & Rosemary’s Meetings Are Inconsistent With Rosemary’s Baby’s

Rosemary and Terry meet twice in Rosemary’s Baby. During their first meeting, Terry tells Rosemary how the Castevets helped her with her drug addiction and provided her with a roof over her head. When they meet again in the building’s basement laundry, Terry remains grateful about how the Castevets have treated her and keeps singing praises about them to Rosemary. In Apartment 7A, however, Terry is already suspicious about the Castevets’ motives before she meets Terry in the building’s basement.

Although Apartment 7A does not feature an explicit conversation between the two characters, it hints at where the prequel’s timeline overlaps with Rosemary’s Baby‘s. Terry’s discoveries and her growing understanding of the truth behind the building’s residents suggest she would not have been all that optimistic about her stay with the Castevets when she meets Rosemary the second time. This makes it hard not to assume that Apartment 7A ignores Terry and Rosemary’s interactions from Rosemary’s Baby.

2 When Exactly The Castevets Set Their Eyes On Rosemary

Rosemary Was Under Their Radar Even Before Terry’s Death

Rosemary’s Baby‘s opening arc suggests that the Castavets only meet Rosemary after Terry’s death. However, Apartment 7A features a mid-credits scene in which the Castevets watch Rosemary and Guy from a distance as the two interact with a few police officers outside the central apartment building. Minnie and Roman then share a smile before walking up to Rosemary and placing the first piece of their manipulative plan into motion. This scene suggests that the two antagonists had set their eyes on Rosemary even before Terry’s death, believing she could be their backup plan if Terry backed off.

1 The Events That Led To Terry’s Death

Rosemary’s Baby Intentionally Maintains Ambiguity Surrounding Terry’s Death

Rosermary’s Baby leaves a lot to the viewer’s imagination. For instance, even though it hints that the Castevets were responsible for Terry’s death, it never delves into the details of what led to her dying by suicide. Apartment 7A‘s whole narrative revolves around how Terry initially agrees to bear the child in exchange for fame and material success before realizing the hidden cost of her deal. She even tries to get an abortion, but nothing seems to work in her favor.

In Apartment 7A‘s ending arc, she finally resorts to extreme measures by initially tricking the cult members into believing she will conform. However, just when they accept her as a new member of the cult, she leaps out of a window and sacrifices herself to ensure the Anti-Christ is not born. Terry’s sacrifice in Apartment 7A ultimately sets the stage for Rosemary’s story in Rosemary’s Baby.