A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, move into a new apartment building and befriend the old couple down the hall. Guy and Rosemary are trying to conceive and after a weird ‘rape dream/vision’, Rosemary becomes pregnant. They tell the old couple and Rosemary quickly finds them commandeering every facet of her pregnancy, from her diet, to visits from friends, to which doctor she sees. Add to that, her pregnancy seems excessively excruciating and agonizing. Rosemary descends into pain and paranoia as she struggles to decide who to trust and what’s best for her and her unborn child―who may be more than he seems . #spoilers
With themes on rape, the parasitic nature of pregnancy, societal expectations of pregnant women, faith and trust amidst uncertainty, a mother’s invasion of privacy during pregnancy, an ultimately a mother’s unwavering love, the film is a cut deeper than most of the horror I watched this year. As someone who had a front-row seat to a pregnancy last year, the film played as a convincing and chilling interpretation. If it were shot and released today, I’m positive it would hold up and be hailed as a “sociological thriller” for feminism, the way “Get Out” was for racism. I really enjoyed this one.