Directed by: Roman Polanski
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Charles Grodin, Ralph Bellamy, Patsy Kelly
Among the scariest things one can imagine is being the target of a plot and not knowing who to trust or getting anyone to believe that there is one. In the days of Rosemary's Baby, a woman's misgivings are disregarded as hormonal or the product of friends' influence. Being Rosemary (Farrow) is like that. She gets pregnant after possibly being raped while unconscious and for months experiences horrible pains which aren't common to pregnancy. Her far-too-nosy neighbors practically force her to see "their doctor" and drink a milky drink daily featuring ingredients many have never heard of. Her husband Guy (Cassavetes) is hardly sympathetic, or even around much now that his long dormant acting career has taken off. We know something is off. Rosemary knows it too, but just can't verbalize her suspicions. When she tries, she is quickly dismissed by those who supposedly care for her.
The film, directed by Roman Polanski, is fifty years old, so I don't think it is too much of a spoiler to learn that Rosemary's baby is fathered by Satan and her husband and friends are in on the plot. Her neighbors Minnie (Gordon) and Roman (Blackmer) are overly nice, pushy, and seem to take a greater interest in the baby than they should. Rosemary's appearance in the months following conception is chalky white, sickly, and gaunt. She endures unimaginable physical pain and long hours of loneliness. She thinks the baby will save her marriage to Guy, not knowing that Guy has already sold his soul to Satan to make it in show business. Rosemary's health and sanity come a very distant second to him, despite hollow promises that he will be home more.
The overall tone of Rosemary's Baby is effectively eerie, creepy, and suspenseful. Things don't need to jump out at you to frighten you. Clues are everywhere, yet Rosemary either naively ignores them or meekly protests the bizarre happenings. Rosemary couldn't possibly fathom that a plot is underway for her to give birth to Satan's child. Would you be able to believe it? Even if the signs are all pointing to it? It is simply too farfetched to conceive. This notion allows Rosemary's Baby to work much longer than it should. There is a degree of human nature at work here.
Farrow projects the right amounts of naivete and vulnerability. She is surrounded by people at all times, yet she is terribly alone. Even when she is alone, the doorbell to her apartment rings and she dutifully answers it. If she didn't answer the door so often, parts of the plot may not be able to happen. Kind of like people in the Scream films who never fail to answer the phone when it rings.
Polanski doesn't just provide a creepy atmosphere, he provides us with creepy people who seem good from the outside, but everyone but Rosemary knows better. Polanski's camera makes it feel like Rosemary is constantly watched. Her space isn't her own and day by day, the reality is closing in on her.
Then, we have the ending, with elements we already knew and then an element we don't see coming. Are Rosemary's actions the result of her weakness in dealing with overbearing people or her overly trusting nature? Or does she believe, like a magazine cover she once read suggests, that God is dead anyway? If anyone from God's camp is around, we sure don't see it, but Satan's followers are there in full force. With so much overwhelming evidence in Rosemary's Baby of evil triumphing over good, then how can Rosemary fight it? We see why she can't.
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