FILM REVIEW: Backrooms (2026)
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Backrooms - New Release Review
Director: Kane Parsons
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell
Written by: Will Soodik, Kane Parsons
Produced by: Kori Adelson, Peter Chernin, Michael Clear, Dan Cohen, Chris Ferguson, Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, Kane Parsons, Roberto Patino, Osgood Perkins, Jenno Topping, James Wan
Cinematography by: Jeremy Cox
Original Score by: Kane Parsons, Edo Van Bremmen
Synopsis:
After a therapist's patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him.
Thoughts:
Are you aware of creepypastas? I’m not talking about a Lasagna that’s a little to handsy at the club; I'm talking about internet folklore stories. Websites like Reddit and 4chan were the breeding ground for these modern folk tales, with people around the world contributing to the stories with “real life sightings” or “evidence” that these stories are real. 'Slender Man', 'Candle Cove' and 'We’re All Going to the World’s Fair' are all examples of creepypasta’s that have been adapted/inspired projects for the big and small screens. In 2022, Youtuber Kane Parsons created a short film exploring the idea of the creepypasta “Backrooms”. The Backrooms is a fictional location, based in an seemingly never-ending series of mostly empty rooms. Think Ikea, but everything is beige and there’s no meatballs...true hell. If you did happen to find yourself in the Backrooms, and you’re able to escape? You’re one of the lucky ones. Something inhuman lives in the Backrooms and no one had lived to survive to tell the tale...until now.
Due to the success of Parsons YouTube short film, he was immediately called by A24 and Atomic Monster to bring this story to the big screen. Parsons was 19 years old while filming this feature film, and while some people complain about Kane being too young, it’s a shining light to all up and coming film makers that it’s possible to break into the industry if you have the right ideas. Age aside, Kane Parsons shows with his debut feature film that he is an absolute master of his craft. The film shows that he’s clearly inspired by film makers like David Lynch, Spike Jonze and Jordan Peele. The surreal imagery is unsettling, as it’s meant to be, but I found the simplicity of the plain, endless rooms more terrifying. Lynch was the master of making the mundane scary and I’m glad to see Parsons has picked up that baton since Lynch sadly left us last year.
The cast is limited to 4-6 people, and they’re all fantastic. Chiwetel Ejiofor gives an emotional devastating performance as a broken man with nothing left. He has an underlying rage every time he has tointeract with another character, but once he enters the Backrooms, that all drops. He’s filled with wonder and purpose, feeding his addictive personality as he wants to discover the secrets of this place. Renate Reinsve, who I’ve been in love with since 'The Worst Person in the World', shows that she absolutely understands the horror genre and what it takes to be a final girl. Her character has overcome so much trauma in her past and being pulled into the Backrooms returns her to a horror she never wanted to revisit.
The script by Will Soodik is incredibly mature on an emotional level, with layers of unspoken horrors that the characters have been through in the past. The script trusts the audience to understand what’s going on and not to overcomplicate the concept of the Backrooms.
The opening of the film is definitely the scariest part of the movie, as it throws you headfirst into the Backrooms themselves with some found footage. I will say that the film loses its horror factor when you figure out what’s going on but it doesn’t lose your interest. I want to see more of the Backrooms (ironically), and the film leaves enough breadcrumbs to explain how this liminal space works in the wider world.
I think 'Backrooms' is going to surprise a lot of people. From a reddit post to a YouTube series to big screen, Kane Parsons has delivered a horror film that is both scary and surprisingly, full of emotion and heart. Parsons reminds me of a young Mike Flanagan and that’s never a bad thing. I look forward to seeing whatever Parsons wants to do next, whether that be horror or drama, as he’s proven that he’s a master at both.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
-Adam Neeson
'Backrooms' is released in Irish/UK cinemas on May 29th
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