This post contains mentions of sexual assault and violence against women.
SinceRosemary’s Baby’s story centers on a satanic cult run by Minnie and Roman Castevet, it is hard not to be curious about the origins and purpose of the coven. Based on Ira Levin’s book of the same name,Rosemary’s Babypresents a disturbing metaphor for motherhood, domestic abuse, gaslighting, and immorality. Revolving around the titular character, Rosemary, the film walks through the harrowing experience of a young woman whose hopes for living with a happy family unravel into a satanic nightmare.
By unfolding primarily through Rosemary’s perspective, the film allows viewers to experience the same sense of paranoia and isolation that she endures. The film also prompts viewers to become armchair detectives, encouraging them to unravel the mysteries surrounding Rosemary in the Bramford apartment building. Although the movie intentionally keeps some aspects of its story shrouded, it reveals enough details about the central cult’s inner workings and purpose.
The Cult Only Has One Purpose
BothRosemary’s Baby and its prequel,Apartment 7A, avoid revealing the name of the cult. However, several clues in the original movie and the book hint that the cult was originally based in Paris. The satanic cult’s sole motive is to lure more and more followers by promising power, material success, and fame in return. During her quest for answers in Rosemary’s Baby, the titular character also learns thatthe cult’s background and malicious practices have been explored in J.R. Hanslet’s book,All Of Them Witches.
Rosemary’s Baby: 10 Chilling Behind The Scenes Facts About The 1968 Film
Rosemary’s Baby is full of behind the scenes info about its production and hidden details that only become apparent after multiple viewings.
As seen inRosemary’s Baby, the book features everything from drawings to diagrams, from text to real pictures of the cult members. In bothRosemary’s BabyandApartment 7A, the cult wishes to bring the Anti-Christ to the human world. To achieve this, they target young women like Terry and Rosemary and manipulate them into bearing the demonic child of their satanic leader. In all iterations of the story, Roman and Minnie Castevet are the leading forces behind the cult, determined to propagate their sinister agenda by all means necessary.
Is Rosemary’s Baby’s Cult Based On A Real Group?
The Movie’s Cult Is Fictional
The cult portrayed inRosemary’s Babyis completely fictional. The movie and the original book only use it as an effective narrative device to draw allusions to the real-world struggles women face in a marriage setting. By portraying how Rosemary is sexually assaulted during the cult’s first satanic ritual, the movie presents powerful commentary on the exploitation of women and their bodies. AsRosemary’s Baby’s storyprogresses, it delves deeper into feminist themes surroundingthe terrors of domesticity and the loss of autonomy in a woman’s life after pregnancy.
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Guy’s side of the story inRosemary’s BabyandTerry’s inApartment 7Acan also be seen as a warning about unchecked ambition. Both characters either hurt themselves or their loved ones in their mindless pursuit of material success. Many other relatable themes can be found inRosemary’s Baby’s different iterations, but the cult described in the story is not based on a real one.
Apartment 7A
In this psychological thriller, a young woman is forced into a mysterious cult after moving into a seemingly ordinary apartment complex. As strange events occur there, she begins to question her sanity and the motives of her enigmatic neighbors.
Rosemary’s Baby
Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow, Rosemary’s Baby chronicles the chilling tale of Rosemary Woodhouse, the wife of an actor who, after finding out she is pregnant, begins to suspect that her unborn child is something far more sinister than a normal baby. John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, and Maurice Evans also star.
