The blockbuster success of Kane Parsons’ liminal space horror flick, Backrooms, is a phenomenon in today’s day and age, but does that inherently make the movie phenomenal? The answer is both yes and no.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of the “backrooms,” it’s an iteration of the uncanny valley effect that’s garnered lots of buzz over the past couple of years, popularized by the twenty (twenty!!!) year-old Youtuber and director, Kane Parsons, and proliferated by creepypasta fans online. An initially innocuous alternate dimension that’s nearly identical to our own, the backrooms are a collection of infinite, maze-like office rooms that evoke a sense of paranoia lurking just below the facade of normalcy.
What’s “off” about these rooms are their bizarre, entropic design (walls meeting at awkward angles, doors where they shouldn’t be, Alice in Wonderland hallways) and the blatant lack of people that live there. Part of what makes the backrooms so sinister is the isolation, the sense that you’re trespassing, that you’re seeing something you were never meant to see. It’s all very Lynchian — some viewers have likened the film to the infamous Black Lodge from Twin Peaks (which is arguably the “backrooms” progenitor).
Why you should see Backrooms on the big screen
And while I think David Lynch would appreciate the nod, I don’t think it’s fair to compare Parsons’ project with the work of, dare I say, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. However, there’s still a lot to love about Backrooms, particularly the ambition and originality in an era dominated by cash-grab IP installments and legacy sequels nobody asked for. Between the wild success of Iron Lung (2026) and Obsession (2026), the film industry may be on the brink of a watershed moment — one that’s ushering in a new wave of young creatives with fresh ideas, one that no longer regards the Youtuber label as a scarlet letter.
Even if these three movies aren’t masterpieces, they’re still important because they’re selling out theaters and getting people excited about going to the theater, which is especially poignant in the wake of COVID-era straight-to-streaming slop.
What worked about this film
But what’s this film even about? On a high level, it follows a jaded, down-and-out furniture salesman desperate to keep his failing business afloat whilst coping with divorce, something he repeatedly hashes out in therapy. Clark, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, stumbles into an alternate dimension in the basement of his store — where he proceeds to get lost and go crazy. His shrink, Dr. Kline sets out to find him and ultimately embarks on a journey more bizarre than she ever could’ve imagined.
While the character development is lukewarm at best (Clark is too unlikeable to root for and Kline is held at too far a distance for the audience to care about her fate), Parsons does an excellent job in setting a tone I’d describe as “nebulously dreadful.” The unpredictability of the backrooms (what’s more frightening than an unmarked door in a foreign place?) leaves you constantly on edge, anxiously waiting for a jumpscare that may or may not ever happen. Couches are half-sunken into floors, hatches open into voids, stairs meld into the ceiling. We can be scared alongside the characters because nobody knows what sort of warped chaos backrooms are capable of producing, and I think that’s the beauty of a premise like this.
Another thing I love is the use of home video, which harkens back to titular found-footage movies like Blair Witch Project. Since Backrooms is set in 1990, Clark documents his discovery with a hand-held camera; therefore, we get a lot of first-person action that’s shaky, raw, and distorted. This sort of immersion is effective in making the viewer feel like they’re in the backrooms with Clark.
Close but no cigar
That being said, the film falters when it switches back to the sleek, professional lens used to film what’s going on in the real world. I found myself not only struggling to care about what was happening outside the backrooms but finding it hard to believe we were in the 20th century. The set design in the actual “backrooms” was so meticulously crafted, but apart from a few retro cars and gaudy couch upholstery, the outside world was disappointingly modern.
Parsons also attempts to explore Dr. Kline’s past trauma through a series of childhood flashbacks, perhaps as a way of elucidating her motive for going in to help Clark escape, but this aspect of the film weighed it down. To me, Backrooms wanted to be both a psychological thriller and a popcorn-horror-flick and ended up as an indecisive mix of both.
But then again, no movie is perfect — especially a directorial debut. Still, I have a sneaking suspicion that Backrooms will go down as a cult classic over the next twenty years, and rightfully so. Although it had sterling moments of greatness, it was consistently good. This film is bold, novel, and got off the ground in an unconventionally aspiring way. I highly encourage you to see it on the big screen, and if you like this type of horror, I also recommend checking out movies like Skinamarink (2022), I Saw The T.V. Glow (2024), and pretty much anything by David Lynch.
Backrooms (2026): A Lynchian, Liminal Space Thriller [SPOILER-FREE] - Malevolentdark
Director: Kane Parsons
Date Created: 1970-01-01 00:33
3.5
One Response
Great review Sarah. My experience was pretty similar. I was captivated by the first 2 acts. As soon as Mary enters the backrooms the air came out of the balloon.