Backrooms

Few things have captivated me the way Backrooms has. I was never that into Kane Parsons' YouTube series, but the clips I'd seen online completely won me over. Plus, it stars Chiwetel Ejiofor. My weakness.

Backrooms stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark, a furniture store manager, and Renate Reinsve as Dr. Mary Kline, Clark's psychologist. As Clark struggles to build his fledgling furniture store, he suddenly discovers an alternate dimension that mirrors the real world.

TLDR; I really liked it.

The film opens to a sequence that would make fans of the original creepypasta smile from ear to ear, and it very quickly sets the tone for the rest of the film. Eerie, unsettling, and, at times, disturbing are all words I'd use to describe the feeling the film gives. And it's crafted to near perfection. Every frame feels just strange enough to be noticeable, which is part of what, in my opinion, makes the concept so enthralling.

The "real world," or surface world, isn't something we usually take into account with trips to the Backrooms, but this film takes us there and, when we are brought out, it serves as a useful reset. Parsons has said that he wanted to avoid "lore-dumping," which I can understand. I wonder, however, if it didn't ultimately hurt the film. A friend of mine that saw the film with me, and had limited Backrooms knowledge going in, was thoroughly confused throughout the entire film. And, in the end, I was left scratching my head a few times and wished there was more explanation. How much of the surface knows? Is there any leakage from dimensions/worlds? None of this is answered in an obvious or satisfying way, and in such a lore-heavy concept, a little more context or grounding would have been nice.

I suppose the story doesn't need to be perfect, so long as the liminal vibes are present and work. And, like I mentioned above, they really do. Parsons has his finger on the pulse of this genre, which his YouTube series already showed, but it's refreshing to see it translated to the big screen so effectively. Countless sequences and compositions feel at home in the Parsons' world, and as someone who has begun to tinker in Blender in recent months, it was interesting to try and see the scenes where it could have been used. Much like the outside world, the characters usually aren't what people associate with Backrooms. Maybe that's a "me issue," but that isn't the case in this film. Both Ejiofor and Reinsve are exceptional, delivering captivating, albeit different, performances. I've long been a fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor, so seeing him flex his acting chops is always a treat. A pleasant surprise was Renate Reinsve. I wasn't familiar with her or her work going in, but there was something so intriguing about her and her story, and I couldn't wait to learn more.

Officially listed at 1h51m, the film moves effortlessly before ending, much like each YouTube installment, rather abruptly. I wish we spent more time diving into the characters and world, but like I mentioned multiple times, that isn't the true focus in a project like this. Instead, the goal is to deliver a feeling, which this film certainly did. My screening was the Everything Must Go Edition, which featured a short at the end, which helped tie everything together even nicer.

If it wasn't already clear, I really enjoyed Backrooms. The film expertly crafts an atmosphere that feels massive yet claustrophobic, intimate yet impersonal, creating a truly unique experience. For a directorial debut, this is nothing short of remarkable. And I can't wait to see what Kane Parsons does next, whether that's another trip into the Backrooms or something entirely different.

From Letterboxd: 4.5/5