Back in the 2000s, some internet users would write and indulge in “creepypastas”, stories (often short) that would usually revolve around some paranormal events or entities that have since become quite legendary, with perhaps the most famous being the Slender Man mythos. There was also the internet-famous Backrooms photo from 2002 that inspired YouTuber Kane Parsons to create a whole story and numerous short films building the legend of the rooms that appear to be another dimension that one could easily get lost in and never return. Now, at just 20 years old, Parsons has been given the backing of A24 to create a feature-length version of The Backrooms. Does it do justice to the legend of the Backrooms, or is this just another example of a studio jumping on an internet phenomenon in order to ride its popularity right to the bank?

Director: Kane Parsons
Writer: Will Soodik
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell

Furniture store owner Clark (Ejiofor), an alcoholic and divorcé, is living in his unsuccessful store when the electrics begin acting up, with lights flickering and high electrical bills. On investigation, he finds a mysterious doorway to a larger set of rooms that are similar to his store in which reality seems to be distorted. He recruits his assistant manager and her boyfriend to help him record and document the rooms, but when Clark doesn’t show up to his therapy sessions, his therapist Mary (Reinsve), who didn’t entirely believe him when he tried to explain about the rooms, goes to the store to check on him and finding that Clark was telling the truth all along.

These creepypasta stories have always been right up my street, with paranormal stories often giving me trouble sleeping, so the idea of a big screen adaptation of The Backrooms, especially from A24 and directed by Parsons and produced by some legendary horror filmmakers, including James Wan and Osgood Perkins, has got to be good, right? Well yes, I believe Backrooms to be a solid psychological horror/thriller that raises more questions about the rooms than before, as it should. I for one did not want everything handed to me on a plate; I wanted to remain mystified by the existence and point of these rooms. The film does provide a little more to the backstory outside of the rooms, mainly surrounding the Async company that are studying “the Complex”, as they often call it, and the effects the rooms can have on people inside, but, in true Stranger Things early seasons fashion, we are no closer to any answers about the rooms than before.

In spite of his age, Parsons has already proved a solid director and has remained true not only to his mythology but the suspense he originally created, the recognisable sets and the 90s style, including a handheld camcorder for sections of found footage. It all feels just as claustrophobic, bizarre and ‘uncanny valley’ as the YouTube videos (but, thankfully, with clearer sound!). Parsons also widens the world to include regular people more so than the YouTube videos, giving it more authenticity and taking a deeper foray into the psychological aspects and the way the rooms can mess with those not fully sound of mind. Though it made sense for a feature length film to have characters with more depth, it was perhaps a little too dense than was necessary at times, with a murky link between Clark’s descent into a kind of madness and his personal troubles (a scene in which he gets a little monologue-y also drags the pace down a little).

Chiwetel Ejiofor is a great lead as Clark, with his ability to be three-dimensional allowing Clark to be a solid character to lead the audience into the rooms. Renate Reinsve however appears to be the standout of the film, with her incredible talents bringing Mary to life and having something in her eyes that betrays some knowledge within Mary that we are never fully privy to, kind of like the rooms themselves. Mark Duplass has little screen time, but his occasional presence acts like a secret that we are dying to be let in on (if you are not new to the Backrooms then you may be mostly in on this secret already). His character Phil, an Async scientist researching the rooms, offers little in the way of information, but there’s something enjoyable about having a character who, traditionally, should be able to offer more exposition but isn’t able to.

I went into this movie wanting to be psychologically thrilled and creeped out, and Backrooms did exactly that. Having seen and read bits of lore over the years and finally sitting down to watch Parsons’s full YouTube playlist before watching the film, I was pleased with the outcome. If a young, committed, creative person like Parsons can do this when given the backing of a studio and just (by industry standards) $10 million, think about all the amazing work we could be getting if studios were willing to seek out young original talent more proactively rather than buying up properties and distorting them beyond recognition. I hope Parsons is the start of a new generation of filmmaker, talented with a unique vision, because it will be down to people like him to lead the way as technology and ways of consuming film changes.