My quick rating – 6.4/10. Backrooms is another horror movie getting plenty of attention, so naturally I had to see if this internet-born concept could actually work as a feature film. The idea has already become popular through countless YouTube videos, although I personally never made it more than a couple of minutes into them because I always thought they were kind of ridiculous. An endless yellow office space with creepy noises? Congratulations, you invented the world’s worst workplace tour.
We start with some grainy home video footage from around 1990 inside the familiar yellow corridors. If you know the Backrooms, you know exactly what this is. A man is wandering through this strange dimension, trying to broadcast a message to anyone who might hear him. He has seen something. He does not know what it is. And he would really like someone to come find him before this chase is over.
The opening leans heavily into jump scares and creepy imagery, which seems to be the entire point. There are some great visuals as he runs through the endless halls before eventually being cornered. The recording ends, and that is where the actual movie begins.
We are introduced to Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who is talking with therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve). Clark is clearly unhappy with his life, especially his job as a furniture salesman. His embarrassing commercial we see him filming might be the most terrifying thing in the movie. Nothing says “I have lost control of my life” quite like pretending to be excited about selling couches.
When an electrician discovers a strange breaker at Clark’s store that appears to be connected to nothing, Clark decides the logical thing to do is investigate the creepy basement himself. After being thrown out of his house, he starts staying at the store to figure out what is happening with the strange electrical problems.
Naturally, he ends up messing with the fuse box and walking through a wall into another dimension.
The usual.
One thing I appreciated is that Clark actually makes a smart horror movie decision. Instead of just telling everyone about this impossible discovery and hoping they believe him, he brings his employees along and uses a camera to document the place. Finally, someone in a horror movie remembers that evidence is useful.
The Backrooms themselves are easily the highlight. The cinematography is excellent. The visual effects are solid. The movie does a great job of creating a feeling of isolation. Nice trifecta. There is something quite unsettling about being trapped in a place that seems endless and completely disconnected from reality.
Unfortunately, the story never reaches the same level as the atmosphere. I was interested in the idea that the Backrooms represented loneliness, depression, and feeling trapped in a life you don’t want. There was something interesting there. Then the movie shifts direction, and the ending weakens a lot of what had been built throughout the runtime.
Since I have been binging the original The Twilight Zone recently, I also have to mention the episode “Little Girl Lost.” I watched it only a couple of weeks ago, and the similarities immediately stood out. A person disappearing into another dimension through an impossible opening in reality? My Twilight Zone alarm went off pretty quickly. Maybe Kane Parsons has talked about that influence before, but it was impossible for me not to notice.
Overall, Backrooms is a good horror movie that could have been great. The visuals, atmosphere, and concept are all there, but the story and ending hold it back. It is a fascinating idea that needed a stronger payoff.
