Based on Kane Parson’s web series of the same name, itself inspired by a creepypasta from 4chan, “Backrooms” is an exploration of the horror present in so-called liminal spaces. Frustrated would-be architect Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers a seemingly endless collection of yellow corridors bathed in harsh neon light. He’s eventually followed in by his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) who discovers the horrors waiting within.
The film opens with a found footage sequence, a scientist in a full hazmat suit having ventured too far into the backrooms. What plays out is as confusing as it is unsettling. He stumbles through what would otherwise be a bland space, chased by an unseen entity. While the things around him are ordinary, something is undoubtedly off. Banners stick out of the walls at random, the passages are maze-like, a lost seagull even appears. It’s moments like this, surreal yet familiar, and deeply unsettling, where the film is at its best. It’s a shame so much of the rest of the film fails to live up to it.
An Exciting Young Filmaker
“Backrooms” marks the directorial debut for Parson, who was just twenty years old when it was released. He’s part of a crop of exciting new filmmakers that cut their teeth on YouTube. With the movie’s financial successes, he’s become the youngest person to ever reach number one at the box office. It also has become the highest grossing film for A24, a mini-major studio well known for their low-budget horror flicks. Writing the film alongside Parsons is Will Soodik, who has previously worked in television.
There’s been speculation that Parsons could not have directed “Backrooms” at an age where he wasn’t old enough to legally drink. Mark Duplass, who has a small but important role in the film, even had to take to Instagram to debunk rumors he shadow-directed it. Frankly, these rumors, as they so often are, are a bit insulting. For better or worse, this was definitely a film made by a twenty-year old. Its themes about trauma and accountability are far from subtle. At one point someone is literally the over the head with a metaphor representing trauma that’s been held on to. And that’s to say nothing of how clearly it wears its influences on its sleeve. Despite that, in those sequences that really work, it is so fresh and exciting that it feels like it couldn’t come from anyone other than a first time director.
What Works and What Doesn’t
Even in the moments that don’t really work, its stellar cast does a lot to lift the film up. On the page their isn’t much to Clark and Mary. He is a divorced guy going in circles, and she’s a therapist with her own issues. However, Ejiofor and Reinsve have such talent and charisma that you almost don’t notice how thinly written they are. Ejiofor takes what might have been a one note character and turns him into a tragic figure, filled with a deep anger concealing sadness and confusion. Coming off her Oscar nominated role in “Sentimental Value,” Reinsve plays someone terrified, yet attempting to stay in control, doing more acting with her eyes than most actors can do with their entire bodies.
Even so there are large pieces of character development that seem to be missing from the script, particularly for Clark. The film abruptly changes its protagonist halfway through the film. The way it gets Mary into the backrooms is convenient to be charitable. Frustratingly, at the end the film it decides to halfheartedly explain what is going on. This ruins some of the mystery, yet dosen’t go far enough to offer anything satisfying. That is unless you are intimately familiar with the online lore. Perhaps its worst sin is that the last “scary sequence” is rather dull, generic, and unfrighting monster movie stuff.
The Found Footage
It makes one wonder how the movie would have held up if it had been done completely in found footage. Not only are those the standout portions of the movie, with a rather terrifying and lengthy one coming about halfway through, but the format that Parsons used for the web series. It’s a style he’s clearly comfortable with and skilled at using. Perhaps we’re oversaturated with horror films that invoke the trope, but it’s effective for a reason.
Parson also wisely chooses to set the movie in the early 1990s, which at first blush seems like an odd choice for someone born in 2005. However this is the perfect setting for something that uses found footage. Digital cameras, or camcorders, were accessible, although not widely available. They still had that fuzzy quality that adds to the overall ambiance of something like this. It was the very rise these cameras that gave birth to YouTube, creating a fertile ground for the likes of Parsons to hone their skills. In watching those standout found footage chunks of the film I can’t help but be reminded of the criminally underrated “As Above So Below.” That found footage horror film also involved people exploring an underground labyrinth filled with the traumas they brought to it. Those that enjoy the terror present in liminal spaces should be sure to check it out.
Final Thoughts
While I didn’t love “Backrooms,” it’s a film I’m very glad exists, and that has been so successful. Perhaps the most frustrating movies aren’t the truly bad ones. Rather its ones that, if they had just made a few tweaks, could have been truly great. I may not watch the entire thing again anytime soon, but rest assured I’m going to watch moments from it for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to see what Kane Parsons does next.
Derick’s Rating: 5/10
