Reviewing “Backrooms” is, and always was going to be, a battle between expectations and reality.
As a fan of Kane Parsons’ zero-budget YouTube series and liminal horror in general (projects such as “Skinamarink,” Jessica Hausner’s “Hotel” and the more niche “Liminal Land”), the promise of seeing that type of horror on a multi-million dollar budget was captivating. Imagine the scale and bleakness that could have been: Being surrounded by towering structures of another incomplete world, whilst being chased by the unimaginable horror of the faintly familiar.
In reality, the dream of getting a “Backrooms” movie faithful to the atmosphere of Kane Parsons’ series, or even to the anonymity of the original 4Chan post, has been lost in translation. A24 hasn’t made a good “Backrooms” movie, and what was released feels like a creator embarrassed by his own work being asked to direct the movie.
Having said that, as a project detached from the shadow of the source material, “Backrooms” is a showcase of Kane Parsons’ directorial talent that is brought down by a meandering script and a lack of meaningful scares. It’s a dark comedy that was sold as a horror movie based on an internet creepypasta.
“Backrooms” is a genuinely funny movie. The first half of this movie is by far the best part and could have been a movie on its own; even without the titular Backrooms, it would still have been better.
“Backrooms” follows Clark, played by a scene-stealing Chiwetel Ejiofor, a furniture store owner, as he discovers a strange doorway in the store’s basement. Renate Reinsve plays his therapist, Mary, as she too tries to unravel the past. The initial sessions are a highlight as they are both darkly comedic and brutally relatable.
You feel Clark’s dissatisfaction with his life grow deeper as he goes deeper into the Backrooms. The initial Backrooms interactions are also phenomenal. Seamlessly introducing liminality, mystery and suspense into an otherwise comedic film.
While the tension and suspense are excellent at the beginning, three-quarters in, the film turns into the exact opposite of everything the initial image stood for. The initial image — and, to an extent, Kane Parsons’ YouTube series — was all about ambiguity and the fear of the unseen.
Liminal horror was popularised because of people’s dwindling interest in the overexposure of horror movie monsters and slasher shlock. Liminal horror is a more psychological, slow-paced form of horror. For example, Jessica Hausner’s “Hotel” doesn’t have a chase scene or a gruesome kill; it’s about the unseen and the stories’ discontinuity. Unfortunately, the “Backrooms” movie is full of budget monsters that patronize a fanbase built on the love of the unseen.
“Backrooms” falls apart after a short found-footage sequence that demonstrates what the movie could have been. It’s tense and surprising until it abruptly transitions to Mary. Sadly, her adventure into the Backrooms feels like a generic horror movie’s final act; one that undermines the suspense and mystery built up to that point in favor of comedy. Then the ending tries to save it with a tangent that leads to confusion, not ambiguity or intrigue, but a question as to why I wasted my time watching this movie.
Kane Parson’s “Backrooms” movie was one of my most anticipated of the year, and it ended up being the most disappointing. In a vacuum, it may be a good film. As a “Backrooms” fan, I saw the picture on 4Chan, and it was horrific. The “Backrooms” movie turned something I enjoyed into a joke, a decently directed joke with a funny setup, but a joke nonetheless. For that reason, I cannot recommend “Backrooms.”
5/10
