Hello friends, good vibes to all.
Officially we are in the month of fear and terror so throughout October I will try to bring the horror movies that are appearing out there. The day begins with a prequel, yes, one of those that Hollywood is so fond of making; prequels, sequels, sequels, sequels, etc, endless productions that what they do is to demonstrate that in most cases they are not at the level of the original works. Something like that is the case of this film, one that responds to the beginnings of nothing more and nothing less than the horror classic Rosemary's Baby by Roman Polanski, that work of art from 1968.
What exactly happened in that apartment before Rosemary and her husband moved in? - Well, this is the story of Terry Gionoffrio (Julia Garner) a dancer who is not having a very good time, she had an accident in a play and now she doesn't know what to do. Desperate, she tries, by any means, to get a role in the most important play on Broadway but it does not work out well. It is at this moment of desperation when she runs into an older couple, Minnie and Roman Castevet (Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally) who out of nowhere start offering Terry a series of things with the argument that they want to take care of her because they never had children.
But as it always happens, not everything is so good as to be true. Once Terry moves into that famous building she begins to experience strange things, to have visions, strange dreams, so she quickly begins to doubt and be skeptical about everything. Clearly Minnie and Roman are not who they say they are, behind them there is a satanic sect that worships the devil and are looking to bring the son of the great lord of darkness to Earth, basically what Rosemary's Baby is about. This film responds to certain things that happen in this classic and perhaps gives a little more context to complement and deepen Polanski's film.
Obviously this is a psychological horror thriller, it is not a film where gore or violence is present but rather everything related to dark forces, witchcraft, sorcery but without being very graphic, that is, almost everything is subjective so that the viewer is the one who gives the image to all that. We do see a few things, some rituals, some images of the devil himself, but everything is very carefully placed. With this I can tell you that at least I was never scared of anything I saw, if there is a little tension at times, you feel something heavy vibe but not much more. The jumpscare was tried, the thing is that it didn't work for me.
The point here is that if you have seen the film Rosemary's Baby, you already know what it is about and what is going to happen with each character. If you are one of those who have not seen it, it is possible that if you go deeper into the story and live it with more intensity. Now, visually it is very good, the essence of 1968 is very present, there are references, winks; in that aspect it is very cool. The representation of evil is very stylized, it is rare that this but it is nothing grotesque, hence why I think it gives zero fear, while the intrigue and the same suspense is something that is always present.
I really like Julia Garner as an actress, in Ozark and Inventing Anna I thought she was spectacular. Here she does not do badly at all, she is very top acting, drama and now horror is very good for her. I think the film is saved thanks to her, there are a couple of scenes where she stands out more than the account. Nothing bad to say. As for the others, everything is very average, I feel that the current Castevets don't reach the originals, comparing is hateful but inevitable. In the end it is a film for me, somewhat unnecessary, if nothing was done nothing happened but nothing, Hollywood is running out of original ideas.
I give it a 6.5/10. It's not a bad movie, watchable, entertaining, decent performances but that's as far as it goes. For the purposes of deepening this story is somewhat irrelevant, as a film to watch this month, ideal. It lasts a little over an hour and a half, I leave the trailer here.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos vemos en la próxima!
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡A hug to everyone, see you next time!