“I opened the window. I won’t be coming back.”

Story: In 1990, a man named Clark is losing everything. His wife, his home, and soon his business. Meanwhile, his therapist Mary is still battling demons from her past. And Mark Duplass Phil? He’s around. Because this story is creepy AF; of course a Duplass is in the mix. Ready to walk through the wall of Clark’s basement? Oh, I wouldn’t if I were you.

Genre I’d put it in: Dreamy Horrors
Release Date: 2026
Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Original: Based on the YouTube channel web series The Backrooms, also helmed by Kane Parsons. Which is, in turn, based on the 4chan location/creepypasta of the same name.

Gotta say: “What – and I cannot stress this enough – the FUCK was that.” That was my final note I jotted down about this mind bending slice of psychological horror. For folks l me who apparently aren’t as terminally online as we’d thought? Backrooms is a confusing, yet strangely satisfying journey. Emphasis on strange. Yet as weirdly off-putting as it is, it’s also strangely comforting, or at least known. We’ve all had that empty dream you can’t stop moving through. That “this place is empty, yet I need to keep walking for some reason” kind of dream? You know the one.

But instead of bland curiosity in your dreams, Backrooms is subtly terrifying. Characters move through these spaces, and I couldn’t help but think they should just turn around. Why continue? These characters have obviously never seen Barbarian. You DO NOT keep going deeper into the unknown, huge area of a building. Especially if you just walked through a wall to get there.

Director Kane Parsons knew what he was doing when selecting his cast. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve – as Clark and Mary respectively – bring a believable humanity to the roles, which is extremely important in a story where the bulk of the plot is walking through strange areas. Writer Will Soodik brings the chops he honed on series like Westworld and Ash vs. Evil Dead, crafting a story that doesn’t make sense, but you can’t look away from. Flashbacks shine lights on the two leads while keeping things unsettlingly vague. That same use of breadcrumbs lends an eerie vibe where you think you almost understand what’s going on, only to have the rug pulled out from under you.

The art department went over and above, creating a world that seems understandable, yet not. Bits of things you’ve seen earlier are scattered just within eyesight. Some passageways are blocked with stacked furniture for one person, yet open for another. Things are sunk into the floor at various degrees, their sizes and shapes often warped. It looks deceptively simple, but everything has a purpose that unfolds as the film progresses. Add to this the discordant score (from Parsons) and sound design by Eugenio Battaglia, and Backrooms becomes a film that crawls under your skin. Don’t be surprised if, like those weird dreams, it bubbles back into your consciousness from time to time.

My only issue is that I’d liked to have seen Mary use some of her hard earned psychology training to help herself/others/get out. As it stands though, it seems that her career is only a prop that introduces her to Clark, and the rooms. (No real spoiler; that’s her trapped in the rooms in the film’s poster.) A small complaint, but one I couldn’t shake. Clark uses his architectural training to try to map things out. Just a tiny missed opportunity for Mary. And while things aren’t wrapped up neatly – or at all – as things draw to a close for the majority of these characters? It felt right. Odd, horrifying, but right.

If you head home after catching this one, and want to continue that strange things-are-off vibe? Why not watch oddly existential oddities like Weapons, The Ritual, As Above So Below. Or maybe even Being John Malkovich, if you’re feeling like you need a bit of a lift. Then again, there’s the web series sitting right there. You could head back into the rooms yourself. If you dare. Me? Nah, I’m cool. This film has freaked me out enough for one day.

#Protip: For my Baltimore, Maryland readers? I don’t think I can ever look at the freebie section of Second Chance in quite the same way again.