A one-word title for a movie, more creepy than scary, numbing with some serious wide shots, almost Kubrickian. Yeah I'm talking about 2026's Backrooms, a flick so destitute and grainy you need special lenses just to view it. So OK, is Backroom's main character Clark cray cray or just having a real bad dream? And how does someone fail at architecture only to become a furniture store owner? And uh, what's up with the deformed dude with nine eyes? "What did you find?" Oh wouldn't you like to know.
So yeah, there must have been a boatload of vast set designs on Backrooms. I mean the vehicle is called Backrooms for a reason so there you go. And rookie director Kane Parsons obviously saw his share of Blair Witch/Paranormal Activity flicks, what with all the low budgets and found footage stuff and you know, claustrophobia. Somewhere Oren Peli is calling and guess what, he says he wants his control of independent features back. Natch.
Heather Donahue personas and Katie Featherston mantras aside, you want a pseudo horror pic about getting lost in interconnected, physical enclosures that's way too complex for its own good? Well you'll probably get that with Backrooms. And do you want to see something where the images will creep you out but at the same time you'll be scratching your proverbial head, wishing everything could just be played out as a straight thriller? Prego, it's in there with Backrooms. And finally, do you want to see star Chiwetel Ejiofor (as Clark mentioned earlier) doing local TV, pirate commercials at his empty outlet? Uh, neither do I.
All in all, Backrooms in terms of its panache is a helmer's triumph, a mosaic of harrowing, three-dimensional imagery and labyrinthine camera setups. As a mode of storytelling however, the film has a lot to be desired. I mean Backrooms might require repeated viewings but that doesn't mean it's a horror/art masterpiece of atmospheric drama and dread. "Imagine describing a dog to someone who's never seen one before and then asking them to draw it." You said it shrink Kline not me.
Written by Jesse Burleson
