What is Rosemary’s Baby? The answer is surprisingly much more complicated than a 1969 horror film directed by Roman Polanski.
The movie has a gothic woman-in-danger who-can-help-her plot. Newlyweds Rosemary and struggling actor, Guy, find the perfect apartment in New York City. And the neighbors seem so friendly. But then the deaths start… Who can help Rosemary escape their increasingly malevolent-seeming intrusiveness?
This book sees the film over fifty years after its creation. Was it a referendum on old vs. young generations? Did it have a detective or a conspiracy plot? Was it a woman’s or a misogynist’s film? Pro or anti-religion? Comedy or a tragedy? Or could it be all of these things at once?
The author also sees connections between the film’s director and its stars personal life and history to the way the movie was filmed. Mia Farrow had only recently married older actor Frank Sinatra. Polanski’s entire family was killed in Nazi death camps. His prior films had portrayed women as both victim and victimizer. He also had a connection with the neo-Satanist cult leader, Manson, and child abuse allegations in his future.
This book is an enthralling deep dive into Rosemary’s Baby. It will expand the reader’s viewpoint of the film from being a simple horror film into much more. 5 stars!
Thanks to British Film Institute, Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.