Backrooms: Liminal Space

A building that holds memories and also strange film moments

Backrooms directed by Kane Parsons has made its theatrical debut on May 29th and I was there to see it on opening day. A film that was made from one strange image that went viral in the 2010s and Parsons’ own short film series about the image created so much hype for people but did it land well with the plot of the film?

The opening scene of this film starts the film off incredibly strong. It has the same feel as the web series with the found footage filmmaking, the man in the hazmat suit and the monster chasing him. This opening had such a unique feel and held so much suspense that I was literally gripping my arm chair. Set in the 1990s, the film then continues to Captain Clark’s furniture store where we meet our partial protagonist Clark ( portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor ) who is a alcoholic store owner who discovers the backrooms below his store, which takes a wild turn from there.

When Clark’s therapist Dr Mary Kline (Academy Award nominee Renate Reinsve ) does not believe him and his discovery, he drags his two young employees Bobby (Finn Bennett ) and Kat ( Lukita Maxwell ) down to the backrooms. Using his camera, Bobby documents their journey through the backrooms and that’s when the camera work switches to a found footage camera work. This perspective shows how thrilling the unknown is until an accident strikes. Leaving Clark alone with not only the camera but also himself. Turning out that Clark knew more about the backrooms than he let on. Eventually when Mary sets out to find Clark and ends up in the backrooms, she is left with the terrifying fact that she never truly knew Clark and how his brain really operated. Mary is forced to find her own way out of the backrooms with something following her there and fighting her personal trauma of her childhood.

The development of the characters in Backrooms felt extremely lacklustre and held no substance to truly connect with them and understand them. Clark and Mary’s interactions felt very much robotic and not like the typical relationship between a therapist and their patient. The plot of the film fell short after the second fount footage scenes where Mary seeks to find Clark. Unfortunately the movie started off incredible but the idea of the rest of the film was executed poorly and lacked a lot of substance.

Despite my opinion, I have to give credit to the cast of this film, especially Renate and Chiwetel who played their roles exceptionally and made me feel their anxiety and panic whilst in the backrooms. The cinematography was one of the few things that I enjoyed in this film, including the found footage scenes being the best parts of the movie. Kane Parsons’ directorial debut of Backrooms ( including the Backrooms YouTube series ) unfortunately did not land well with me but I will say that this is an amazing film debut for the young director.

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️