The horror short that scared the entire internet is now a feature film, and it’s in the theaters this weekend. It’s called Backrooms and, admittedly, I was not super excited for this movie when they first announced it. The short didn’t hit me like it hit a lot of other people, but when I saw the trailer, I completely changed my tune. It looked super spooky and, more importantly, it looked like the adaptation of Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves that we still haven’t been given, and a property that also deals with impossible places that shouldn’t exist.
In Backrooms, a failing furniture store owner named Clarke (Chiwetel Ejiofor) stumbles into limitless real estate hidden under his store. The more he explores, the more he discovers, and it seemingly has no end. Oh, and also, there are monsters in there.
“Backrooms is bound to be one of the most divisive and debated movies of the year.”
That said, the movie is much more of an art film than I think it is advertising itself to be. Like a lot of A24 movies, it has an incredible premise and these really spooky sequences, but in the finale of the movie it becomes an unapologetic art piece. So if that’s something that you’ve been complaining about with A24 movies for a long time, heads up, you’re getting the same thing here with Backrooms. It’s got some really good characters, it’s got some spooky sequences, but it is a little bit weirder than I think a lot of people have been expecting. Even in my own screening, someone in the audience scoffed out loud, “So there’s just no ending?“.
That choice is a real bummer because the movie has a few incredible found footage sequence, proof that they can craft great scares for this space, and I think this movie would’ve been infinitely scarier if it was found footage through and through from start to finish. It is definitely a movie that’s going to spark conversation, so if you’re willing to have a chat with your friends afterward about some weird philosophical principles or whether or not humans have the ability to perceive (or create!) another dimension, then Backrooms might be the movie for you.
I don’t think this will go down as the scariest movie of the year for me, personally, but I am clearly in the minority on this one. Sold out screenings across the nation are proof that this is a property fans are hungry to eat up, and I can’t deny that it is cool to see mainstream audiences embracing the wild and weird world of non-commercial cinema. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who likes answers at the end of your movie and you don’t want the responsibility of doing a bunch of detective work to figure out what the f*ck the movie was about, then Backrooms might not be for you.
Regardless, the movie has some great found footage sequences so there’s definitely something in here for almost every horror fan, and I’m very excited to see what the internet thinks because Backrooms is bound to be one of the most divisive and debated movies of the year.
“This wasn’t for me, but I can’t deny that it is cool to see mainstream audiences embracing the wild and weird world of Art House Cinema.”
We recorded a full, detailed review picking apart our own thoughts and delving into the more complicated immediately after getting out of the movie theater. If you want to hear what we thought about this liminal nightmare, check out the Nightmare on Film Street podcast! And share your thoughts on Backrooms over in the Nightmare on Film Street Discord. Join usssss…
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