Baby Talk

Every now and then, I try out a classic movie with a strong reputation. Occasionally, I find a gem. But horror movies in particular don't often hold up. So it was with Rosemary's Baby, the story of a pregnant woman manipulated by a Satanic cult to give birth to the spawn of the Devil himself.

Rosemary's Baby is a particularly rough movie to watch through a modern lens. Made in 1968, and all about pregnancy, it's especially loaded with paternal and chauvinist attitudes. There are moments here and there where the main character looks like she's going to take charge, moments that are vaguely empowering, but ultimately that's not the story this movie is telling.

It plays doubly rough to know that it comes from director Roman Polanski. This movie was made some time before he pleaded guilty to statutory rape and fled the country, but you cannot help but look at this art and see that artist. Rape figures prominently in the plot, as does gaslighting, and over-the-top male fantasy. A movie like this would never be made today (though, I admit, it makes me a little bit curious what was done to it when it was remade a few years ago as a mini-series with Zoe Saldana).

The movie isn't without merit, though. Though it's all fairly predictable in the way any 50-year-old movie is (whether you've heard snippets of its plot or not), there are some good moments of tension. Fun signposts of coming twists are set up throughout the opening act. The leading woman, for the most part, figures things out fast enough to be heroic, but slowly enough to make the story fun.

There are some good performances, too. Mia Farrow is really quite good as Rosemary, really digging deep and being emotionally vulnerable. In the moments that ring false, I wouldn't fault her; I think the script asks too much of any actor at times. There's also a fun nosy neighbor character, Minnie, played by Ruth Gordon -- who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this role. It's so over-the-top that it's silly most of the time, but there's something about that texture that actually works well in the movie.

I'd say the movie works out to a C overall. It's really not something worth a general recommendation. Horror aficionados might appreciate its place in building tropes that would be played upon later. (The Omen, for example, owes a huge debt to this.) But many would say that today, this movie should just be "canceled." I wouldn't go that far, but I certainly wouldn't want to lead the defense of it.