The Backrooms, the YouTube series upon which the latest A24 horror flick is based, is not at all plot-driven. Sure, some mythology can be mined from it over the course of its collective 2.5 hour runtime, but for the most part, the poster child for liminal horror is all about aesthetics and, as the kids say, vibes. The series began when its creator, Kane Parsons, was just 16, and in the years since its inception, it has grown into a cult curiosity. Now, at the age of 20, Parsons has been tapped by A24 to direct the feature length adaptation of his creation, and as much as I want to lament that a man less than half my age is living my dream, I have to give the young man his roses: He knocked it out of the park.
Those who haven’t seen the series should have no problem following the film, which uses the aesthetic and general concept as a jumping off point to tell a story set within the Backrooms world. All you need to know is this: there is a space adjacent to ours which takes the form of a series of empty rooms with yellow walls, tiled ceilings, and fluorescent lights. It’s seemingly endless, and the folks unlucky enough to have stumbled into it have the leering sense that they may not be alone.
Working from a script by Will Soodik, Backrooms follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a furniture store owner whose life is falling apart. His wife has left him, his business is failing, and his therapist (Renate Reinsve) is frustrated by his unwillingness to do the work needed to emerge from his funk. He’s angry, he drinks, and he’s generally quite unkind. One night long after the store closes, Clark is disturbed by an electrical anomaly in the building. The lights seem to have a mind of their own, and his fuse box doesn’t follow any sort of logic. When he tries to fix it, he stumbles through a portal into the titular empty space. It soon becomes his obsession, and he spends his lonely nights exploring and attempting to map the vast, seemingly infinite realm.
It’s a perfect set up for an onslaught of general spookiness, and it proves a wonderful playground for Parsons to go bigger with his vision, and bring his mostly computer generated series into a more tangible, practical space. The film is at its scariest and most potent when leaning into the found footage aspect of Clark’s experiences within the expansive liminal realm, but it comes up short in terms of the characters. Plenty of time is spent establishing Clark’s personality, yet we don’t really ever get to know him. He is merely a series of recognizable tropes, elevated by a master performer. Midway through the film, his character shifts into second billing behind Reinsve, but she remains a cipher for the duration, even if she too is able to elevate the material through her performance.
This is a problem inherent to adapting a series that features no characters to speak of. To bring the surreality of the series to the big screen without adding characters would result in an overlong experimental piece that would appeal to weirdos like me (where my Skinamarink heads at?!?), but would surely register as box office poison to the suits at A24. On the other hand, to use the series as a foundation upon which to build a more traditional story, you lose a bit of what makes the source material so special and unique. As presented here, Parsons and his team have found what is likely the best middle ground. I can forgive the film for walking this impossible balance beam for two reasons: first, the film is expertly paced, but more importantly, it’s very, very scary.
Even if the character elements are weaker than they should be (trauma and grief again?!? Enough already!), the script smartly avoids giving any sort of explanation to the machinations of the Backrooms. Respect to a mainstream film for avoiding easy answers and instead letting the audience sit with their discomfort and wonder. Your mileage may vary, but I think this bold stylistic swing pays dividends (both artistically, and per the box office, financially), while opening the door for infinite sequels that can use this loose mythology to tell a diverse span of “reality clipping” tales. Like the backrooms itself, the possibilities are endless.
Directed by Kane Parsons
Written by Will Soodik, based on the series by Kane Parsons
Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Lukita Maxwell
Rated R, 110 minutes
