Rosemary's Baby

A young couple move into the Bramford, an old New York apartment building with a history. The neighbours are intrusive, generous and elderly. She becomes pregnant and the pain does not stop.

Polanski adapted Ira Levin's novel almost line for line and shot it as a domestic drama, which is the whole method. There is nothing supernatural on screen for two hours except one dream sequence, and every single thing that happens to Rosemary has a mundane explanation that the people around her supply immediately.

The horror is medical and social. She is told what to eat by a neighbour, sent to a doctor chosen by her husband, told the pain is normal, told not to read books, and told repeatedly that she is being hysterical. She is right about everything.

Mia Farrow was 22 and had her marriage to Sinatra ended by divorce papers served on set.

Ruth Gordon won the Academy Award. The last line is one of the great endings.