Backrooms (2026)
YouTubers are making movies now. That’s becoming a thing and I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not sad about it. Whether or not these movies are any good is an entirely different matter.
Backrooms definitely raises the bar. It’s not perfect, and it’s not on the level of Citizen Kane or Psycho, but it’s pretty darned amazing. The creator and director, Kane Parsons, is only twenty-one, and is one of many who explore Backrooms lore on YouTube, only his take was and is the most popular.
The less said about the plot, the better, because surprise is essential. Basically, what happens is this: It’s 1990, and Clark is recently divorced and sleeping in one of the beds at his furniture store. He’s going to therapy to make sense of why his relationship went so bad, and his therapist, Mary, patiently takes him through role-playing exercises to try and bring some clarity.
One night Clark finds a secret room behind a wall in his basement. Well, it’s more than just a secret room—it goes on and on and on, all with the same yellow carpeting and various random stuff that he can’t explain. It’s almost like a video game. Clark not only maps it out, but enlists his assistant manager, Kat, and her boyfriend, Bobby, to come explore this strange new place with him and film it.
Once again, I won’t get too specific. Things happen. Mary comes looking for her client. More things happen. It gets weird. And then it gets weirder.
The genius of Backrooms is that it’s built around limited sets and limited color schemes. That’s great for the budget, and if done right, great for atmosphere and psyschological baiting and switching. All one has to do is change the camera’s point of view, change the lighting, add or take away random stuff, and voila! A new scene. The characters are disoriented. We’re disoriented. The characters are freaked out. We’re intrigued and engaged.
What’s also genius is that Backrooms is not only built around those endless video game-ish scenes, but the concept of liminal spaces is explored in the field of psychology. Keep that concept in mind and Backrooms makes all kinds of sense.
That said, Backrooms is best when it keeps moving. As long as we’re exploring those endless liminal spaces and wondering what’s around the next corner, we don’t need much else. Sure, we can take breathers now and then, but the longer we stay still, the more familiar the environment looks and the more predictable our surroundings get.
Especially when people start talking. Then Backrooms becomes just another horror movie and we’re all waiting for jumpscares and the proverbial Final Girl.
Fortunately it doesn’t stay that way. Backrooms could use a little tweak here and there, but it’s seriously impressive, especially coming from such a young filmmaker.
Backrooms is currently in theaters. Rated R.
My grade: A-
Principal Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, Avan Jogia, Robert Brobroczkyi, Ember Ambrose, Krista Kosonen, Philip Granger, Katharine Isabelle, Peter New, Sarah Hayward, Natalie Moon, Calix Fraser, Sawyer Fraser, Patrick Baynham, Rhiannon Roberts
Directed by Kane Parsons.
Written by Will Soodik and Kane Parsons.