Quick Fire Review: Backrooms

A24 seemed to have immense confidence with young filmmaker Kane Parsons when announcing that his YouTube web series, known as the Backrooms, would be adapted into a big-screen film. The original concept was formed on 4chan threads and Reddit posts, forming a liminal space where an alternate reality resembles empty office buildings, a forever growing and moving maze which would become more developed when people like Parsons would craft web series around the concept. Parsons’ series, which consists currently of 24 episodes, starting in 2022, expanded the world of the concept, introducing worldbuilding, entities that called the liminal space home and new locations outside of the regular, yellow-tinted office spaces. It is unusual for a big studio like A24 to take such a popular concept like the Backrooms and hand full creative control to one of its creators, Sony never gave any creative control to Eric Knudsen when transferring his creation, Slender Man to the big screen in 2018, so this is a very surprising move. Parsons, who was only twenty years old on release of this film, was given the reigns to direct the film, work with screenwriter Will Soodik on the screenplay and work with composer Edo Van Breemen on the score. This level of control over the film shows a great deal of confidence the studio had in this new filmmaker, and how much they believed in the concept, and this confidence really pays off in a creatively impressive feature.

The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve as Clark and Mary, two people dealing with their own separate trauma while Mary works as a psychiatrist and Clark as her patient. Clark, who owns a furniture store, finds the Backrooms dimension through his store’s basement, which brings the two together in a fight for survival. The first thing to note really with the movie is how wonderful these two central performances are. Soodik’s script is very barebones on characterisation, seemingly on purpose to allow the dream-like nature of the film to take shape. Much of the characterisation comes from imagery, or the performances. Some character changes may come unnaturally but the performances handle that uncertainty well, Ejiofor does a lot of heavy lifting as the Backrooms takes a handle on his mind, but he delivers it well. There is a lot to read about the characters from their actions, and from what is not specifically shown on screen, it is a subtle approach conveyed from the script. It is certainly not your traditional Hollywood horror feature, its symbolism and character growth can come off unnatural or confusing to a general audience, but if it gels with an audience, it really works. Reinsve herself, who has just come off an academy award nomination as best actress for Sentimental Value, is perfect as a therapist who is holding so much resentment and inner turmoil deep down. Her character journey, as subtle as it is, is handled very well.

It has been a long time since a director has been able to convey the dream-like nature of a David Lynch film, but Parsons nails it perfectly. The setting is conveyed in such a bizarre way, a bright and warm location that is still so eerie and claustrophobic, and one so bright that when the movie enters any dark locations, the horror hits even deeper. The unsung hero of this film is easily the crew behind the set design, they have nailed the location, and the exploration angle of the film is easily one of its best, the second act could have went forever and no one would have minded. Each location feels so alive and different, Parson’s expansion of the location into various other designs and colours allows the film to feel different from act to act, without the location ever feeling samey. Parsons has also just got an incredible grasp behind the camera, the film looks wonderful throughout, with beautiful cinematography from Jeremy Cox. There are some incredible shots in here from a big-budget first time director, he has an excellent handle on angles and there’s a great amount of transition shots here. There is an excellent use of found footage here as well, which harkens back to the YouTube series that started this, and works as the highlight of the film, both creatively and in a horror sense.

The shared score between Parsons and Breemen really sells the dreamy nature of the film and helps the transition between dream and nightmare. The horror comes from the uncanny, and the eventual monster that chases our protagonists is easily going to be divisive for some audiences, but it works on a thematic angle, and its booming footsteps work for wonderful sound design. There could maybe be one or two jumpscares rooted out from the film, but the film has enough genuine intense sequences that a couple of lazy scares can easily be let off. The ending is where the film draws a line that very clearly sets up for a sequel, it is an abrupt and explains a little too much for a film that worked so well on uncertainty.

There could have been a better way to tie up some dangling threads and connect it back to the original web series, but what we get, while sloppy, still feels better than nothing. Mark Duplass’ character feels superfluous to the entire plot and could easily have been stripped from the movie to make room for a larger second act, with more character exploration and location exploration that seems to be saved for a sequel. Backrooms promises more and promises that Parsons can only improve from here. It is a confident debut feature, that feels like a proof of concept of where this Lynch-inspired filmmaker can go. It is intense, scary and imaginative in its filmmaking, and truly a much watch in this new modern horror landscape.