Backrooms is a skin-crawling, mesmerizing watch; it feels awful the entire time (complimentary). Few debut films are this realized and self-assured, but Kane Parsons delivers something so singular and full of psychological suspense and a surreal dread. 

Kane Parsons pulls off in Backrooms what feels like the impossible. A fast-paced yet nauseating dread thriving on atmosphere that somehow offers a ton to say while never losing what the soul of that original image was all about. It’s unnerving, it feels ambitious but intimate, it’s endless and hypnotic. Everything that draws online users into any type of Creepypasta feels at front and center in Backrooms, showcasing the importance of letting the creative minds behind these cult successes to be involved in their big screen adaptations. 

There’s a lot to be said about Backrooms, its success and origins, director Parsons and the pipeline of YouTuber to filmmaker. All of these things really do tap into what makes the film such a unique viewing experience and what makes the film successful. The concept of ‘The Backrooms’ started with a 2002 photo of a furniture store that was in the midst of being acquired by a chain. It was an empty space, no windows and just random partitions that were clearly meant to offer new rooms in the store but empty, just felt unsettling and off-putting. Eventually, this image was uploaded onto a 4chan site by an anonymous user giving lore to the image about being trapped in this never-ending space, the Backrooms. Creepypasta is the new wave of folklore and legends; giving life and origins to imagery that feels inexplainable. The growth of ‘The Backrooms’ is instant; other anonymous users leaving comments or starting their own threads adding to the lore of ‘The Backrooms.’ As it continued to grow, it went from that creepy yellow tint office space to growing offering levels of different types of ‘backrooms,’ such as parking structures, tunnels, or rooms with swimming pools. This led to a split between the fans of ‘The Backrooms,’ as purists, if you will, felt this took away from that original image and what made this liminal space so creepy. Others felt it allowed for the world to continue to grow and build with more depth. This response is interesting tying into the film adaptation and how original fans of the Creepypasta feel with the film and if it’s a success or not. 

It’s impossible to ignore how this ties into the next generation of filmmakers stemming from YouTube. These new contemporaries take inspiration from things outside of film to bring new angles and ideas to the medium. While some jumps into feature filmmaking have been more successful than others, there’s no denying the starting point being in line with each generation before, some who went the Super 8 route then film school and so on; all of these filmmakers bring something new to the table regardless of how you feel about it. There’s something tangible in the style and techniques they bring, and the creativity does pay off, especially with Parsons and in Backrooms. 

What’s so interesting about the idea of ‘The Backrooms,’ as a Creepypasta or as the feature film, is that it’s not really something that feels as a narrative idea since it’s basically the concept of uncanny valley for places but there’s nothing to it to explain how you got there, just the noclip out of reality. It’s not hell or a purgatory, you haven’t done anything to end up there. There’s no fairness in it and Parsons knows that, understands that about The Backrooms. It’s a brilliant nod at the origin of ‘The Backrooms’ and that original photo to set the film within a furniture store and grow on the concept of its owner, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Clark, an unsuccessful architect. It makes sense that he becomes obsessed with the ideas of exploring this liminal space once he discovers it. It slowly becomes a paradox to the reality of his life, a failed marriage and business, both at his hands. He’s desperate for an escape from that world. Clark and his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) mirror each other in a way as Mary itches for an escape, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. She’s a survivor of a childhood taken from her by an agoraphobic mother who made a prison of their home that she feels such an attachment to, a longing for a space of her own. (My biggest gripe of the film is the heavy-handed aspect of this despite the payoff for Mary.) The Still Life within this specific ‘backroom’ being a manifestation of the corporate failure of Clark’s life brings a fresh terror and distortion of memory. The same with how Mary holds onto what she wanted her home to be. What we remember is altered within our memory, just as it is in these backrooms. The altered fragments of those who become stuck are so distorted. It leads to an interesting discussion of these Backrooms. The redhead being a copy of his wife, hence her running from Captain Clark, the embodiment of the abusive side of Clark. His own loneliness, that Mary pointed out, killing him and essentially Mary’s loneliness that led her in there in the first place killing her. None of this is addressed directly and entirely open to each viewer’s interpretation, just like the original series. You can look at Captain Clark as the refusal to live and working to live taking over Clark’s life until it suffocates him, fitting in the 90’s era of economic boom. 

I have some narrative issues that stem from the Backrooms film being an extension of the series Parsons created. I love the idea of Mr. Creep himself, Mark Duplass, being in the film and the face of the Async Research Institute; it just felt not necessary in the film and personally, took me out of the experience. The performances across the board are impeccable but Ejiofor’s performance is the standout. Every moment he’s on screen, he’s magnetic, terrifying, infuriating, and everything you want from a stand in making the worst decisions, in true horror film fashion. When he isn’t scared, you’re mad. When he is scared, you know it’s so over. Danny Vermette’s claustrophobic production design is the star of the film. These iconic ‘backrooms’ come to life under the direction of Parsons but the vision of Vermette’s work is overwhelming. The beauty of actually building this set and allowing the suffocating dread of these creepy spaces to consume the characters and the audience is one of the highlights of film this year, for sure. Knowing these rooms are real and they’re really walking through them, getting lost and finding new doors allows this dizzying feeling to consume viewers. In an adaptation based on an Internet series, it feels revolutionary to see something really physically created versus something AI generated in a time where this is a fight every day. 

Backrooms is a skin-crawling, mesmerizing watch; it feels awful the entire time (complimentary). Few debut films are this realized and self-assured, but Parsons delivers something so singular and full of psychological suspense and a surreal dread. 

Grade: B+

Oscar Prospects:
Likely: None
Should Be Considered: Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Production Design

Where to Watch: In Theaters