The New Couple in 5B

As “Act 1” begins, Rosie, a true-crime writer living in New York City, meets with her stylish editor, Max, a friend from college, to discuss her newest book proposal. Although Rosie’s first book was a success, her profits are running low, and she needs her next to sell well. The proposal is about an iconic apartment building that has a reputation for being haunted: The building’s famous residents, including Rosie’s uncle-in-law Ivan, tend to die in the building. Max suggests she boost the supernatural elements of the story, focusing on why the building is believed to be haunted. Rosie is inspired by the meeting. The lunch is interrupted when a car hits a cyclist immediately outside the restaurant, splattering blood onto the window closest to Rosie. She is shaken and leaves immediately. As she travels home, she thinks of the pregnancy test in her bag and hopes for a positive result.

At home, Rosie nervously takes the pregnancy test. As she is waiting for the results, she receives a surprise visit from Ivan’s daughter Dana, whom she has never met. Dana angrily reveals that her father left his apartment in the Windermere to Rosie and her husband, Chad, as a thanks for caring for him in his final months. Dana claims that Ivan was abusive toward her and her mother. Rosie’s complicated relationship with her own father prevents her from arguing with Dana. When Chad arrives at the apartment, Dana demands that the couple sign the apartment over to her. Chad refuses and tells her to leave. As she does, Dana warns Rosie that Chad is a bad man. When the couple is alone, Chad encourages Rosie to be happy about the inheritance. The pregnancy test is negative.

Rosie works on revising her new book proposal all night and into the morning hours. The next morning, Rosie learns that Chad told their current landlord they planned to move just a few days after Ivan’s death, suggesting he knew that Ivan would leave them the apartment. Sophie wonders why Chad didn’t tell her. She receives a call from her younger sister Sarah, who still lives with their abusive family in Tennessee. Sarah warns Rosie about a dream she had in which a monster devoured Rosie. Later, the Windermere’s doorman Abi gives her a formal tour of the building. In the basement, the lights go out, and Rosie briefly sees a young boy with his eyes gouged out. Abi and a neighbor assure Rosie that there are no children in the building. Rosie finds an article about Paul and Willa Winter, a couple who lived in the apartment—5B—in the 1960s.

The narrative transitions to 1963, and the first-person perspective of Will Winter, an aspiring dancer. Willa waits for her husband Paul to fall asleep before sneaking out of their Windermere apartment. Willa never dreamed that she’d be an unfaithful wife, but she has grown bored with the safe, quiet life that Paul has provided for her. In the small town where she was raised, Willa was a star; in New York, however, she struggles to find success. Her off-Broadway show recently closed, and although she has auditions lined up, she is not hopeful. She has planned to meet a man who asked to visit her dressing room after a performance Paul did not attend. When Willa reaches the bar, she briefly considers going home. When she sees the man, however, she can’t resist him.

Rosie attends the opening night of Chad’s play, a musical take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with Max, who always accompanies her to opening nights. Max tells her the other editors loved her new proposal, and that her book is moving forward. He is shocked to learn that Rosie and Chad plan to move into the apartment rather than sell it. Max’s reaction reminds Rosie of his surprise when he learned she planned to marry Chad. Although Rosie had been hurt, their friendship outlasted the fight. Before the show begins, Rosie notices a woman with dark shadows under her eyes staring at her. During Chad’s scene, Rosie becomes disoriented by his monster makeup and a smoke machine, and she has a panic attack. She flees the theater, and both Chad and Max follow to comfort her. She watches the rest of the show in a daze.

On moving day, Rosie is exhausted from a lack of sleep. Nightmares have been keeping her awake. She dreams about chasing the boy she saw in the basement through a labyrinth, and about Chad in his monster costume drinking her blood. She blames her nightmares on her sister’s phone call about her dream. Rosie struggles to determine what is real and what is simply fear, a feeling she remembers from living with her father, a fire and brimstone preacher. She and Chad reminisce about their memories in the apartment, which was the first they shared together. The last thing removed from the apartment is a small charm given by Rosie’s grandmother and designed to ward off evil. At the Windermere, the couple is greeted by their new neighbors, an older couple named Ella and Charles. Despite the building’s history, Rosie feels hopeful.