The Backrooms Review: A Nightmare You Won't Escape

The Backrooms, directed by Kane Parsons, has now released on digital platforms following one of the most surprising theatrical runs of the year. Inspired by the viral online phenomenon of the same name, the film follows Clark, a sad furniture store owner whose life is turned upside down after discovering a mysterious "portal" leading to an endless labyrinth of a liminal space. As the mystery surrounding the Backrooms deepens, those closest to him are pulled into the nightmare that defies reality itself.

What makes The Backrooms especially remarkable is the journey that brought it to the big screen. The idea began in 2022 when then-16-year-old Kane Parsons uploaded a short analog horror film to YouTube based on the internet's "Backrooms" creepypasta from a 4chan post. His atmospheric storytelling, while using the free 3D software known as Blender, quickly captivated millions of viewers, turning the series into one of YouTube's biggest horror success stories. Hollywood soon took notice, leading to A24 producing a feature length adaptation with Parsons making his feature directorial debut.

Few could have predicted just how successful the film would become. Made on a relatively short budget, The Backrooms evolved from a niche internet horror series into a global sensation, proving that digital creators can successfully transition from YouTube to the future of filmmaking. More than just another horror release, the film represents a landmark moment for internet born storytelling, a testament to what independent creators can achieve when given the opportunity.

The Backrooms does something that feels more special compared to any recent horror film we've had. The film answers the question of what is the true horror of liminal horror, what is in the world beyond understanding? Kane Parsons knows how to build tension from beginning to end, you can sense something is wrong but would never even guess how. What this film truly dwells on is how you can lose yourself in such a nightmare and eventually become it.

Chiwetel Ejiofor does a PHENOMENAL job as portraying Clark as he gives us so much layers through this film. Chiwetel portrays Clark in a way where it goes from a simple man who is trying to better himself to becoming and man who is to lost in his own wrongs. Mary(Renate Reinsve) does amazing and there's some things that this film does to Mary that was kind of unexpected regarding her past. There's also something so special about this film regarding how they play into the character's stories and how they separate them.

Spoiler: Throughout this film, we get memories from Mary's past where she was sheltered and silenced from society due to her mom's insanity. By the end of Backrooms, we get an ambiguous ending, hinting that Mary is being silenced by ASync since she knows about the otherworldly presence that she was warned of as a child. Kane Parsons knows how to show contrast and similarity through out characters and even gives us perspectives that he somehow makes relatable.

Backrooms also visually looks phenomenal and I even questioned myself on how they made this set feel genuine. I used to be a VFX artist but this film genuinely boggles my mind and gives us such a spectacle of something that we've never really seen before. I was already a fan of Jeremy Cox past work on Keeper but it's safe to say Backrooms is his best work. I was impressed that the film even incorporated practical effects to the film's creatures, Still life's.

This film succeeds in making the non-threatening a terrible phantasm. The work put into the still lifes felt real yet uncanny. The team behind this film shows what the Backrooms is, a space where the fragments of your past become present. The best way to show the message of this film was to have a still life that looked like Clark and even showed the violence of Clark due to his very aggressive past. I do think that this film would have benefited if they gave us more to work with for some of the characters that either just appear like Phil (Mark Duplass) or even the people that died. This film also depends on at least some knowledge of the web series made by Kane, as there are scenes in this movie that wouldn't make sense otherwise.

Final Verdict: Kane and his crew knew how to deliver this long-anticipated project, and even down to the ending, it gave us something to look forward to in his future. The Backrooms did not disappoint and I rate it a solid 8.6/10.