Backrooms

A man discovers a portal in the basement of his furniture store that leads to a series of strange rooms and hallways. When he disappears within this seemingly endless labyrinth, his thearapist goes in after him.

The whole idea of The Backrooms started out on the internet as a creepypasta.

A creepypasta is a catch-all term for any of the myriad horror-related legends that are shared and reshared around the Internet. Intended to frighten readers, they're basically the Internet's version of the scary campfire story. They can be completely made up, rooted in real life mysteries, or they can co-opt already existing legends, and will often feature monsters, from the classics like ghosts or vampires or aliens or skinwalkers, to internet creations like the Black-eyed Children, Sirenhead, or the Slenderman. The majority of Creepypastas are often telling what’s basically a pretty straightforward and familiar murder story, just usually with a supernatural twist. Sometimes it’s a classic Lovers Lane/Hookhand Killer cautionary tale, but updated, so now maybe they’re about the perils of a young woman traveling alone, or the dangers of opening your door to a stranger. Other times they might have your basic Monkey's Paw karmic retribution angle. Some feature weirdly complex supernatural rituals like The Elevator Game, or focus on strange, unexplainable, and very dangerous objects like The Staircases in the Woods.

Creepypastas are usually pretty brief too, just a single paragraph, or a single page, maybe only a couple of posts on an internet forum, a quickly consumed tale. But sometimes they can turn into these long multi-part series, the product of multiple creators, a massive collaborative writing project by potentially thousands of users, who, over the course of years, end up developing a very complicated lore.

Backrooms is that kind of creepypasta, and it's all about a fictional location.

Usually portrayed as an impossibly large, seemingly endless extra-dimensional complex comprised of a series of strangely empty and eerie rooms, which are often lit by fluorescent lights, and in colors that are commonly found in office buildings or medical offices–mellow tones, basically, and soft carpets, but maybe a little bit mildewy and stained, and sometimes with tinny muzak playing softly somewhere–this is a place that can only be accessed by exiting reality, usually through a hidden portal. The gist of the idea is sometimes people stumble into the Backrooms, and sometimes there’s things waiting in there for them, and then, well...

Bad things happen to them.

So, somewhere between 2011 and 2018, a slightly askew photograph of a large room with fluorescent lights, pale yellow carpet, and pale yellow walls began to appear on the online forum known as 4chan. It was a picture of the inside of the building located at 811 Oregon St., in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, during the building's renovation project. Then, on May 12, 2019, someone started a thread on 4chan's paranormal-themed board, asking users to post “disquieting images that just feel off” and that photograph was posted as an example. Another user replied to this post, they gave the image its name, and supplied the first description of what would eventually become known as the Backrooms:

“If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in. God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you.“ — Anonymous, 4chan (May 13, 2019)

Just fyi… the term “noclip” is a video game term for when a cheat code turns off collision detection. When this is done, players can move through solid walls, floors, objects, blah, blah, blah, and are generally free to move about the game without any normal physical limits. It's often used in stories/situations like this to explain the idea that you have passed from one reality into another.

Anyway….

In the intervening years, many, many users have expanded on the lore of The Backrooms, introducing a variety of concepts and entities that inhabit the space. Finally, in early 2022, YouTuber Kane Parsons posted a series of Backrooms short films on YouTube, and they were very popular. Even Dan Erickson, the creator of Severance, has acknowledged Parson’s videos as one of the many influences that inspired his own work. Because of this popularity, here now in 2026, Parsons has made a feature film version of Backrooms, which was produced by A24.

This is what we're here to talk about…

So…

In 1990, scientists from the Async Research Institute watch some of the recovered footage from a lost expedition into what looks like a strange complex filled with a series of fluorescent-lit yellow rooms and hallways. As they watch, one researcher is separated from his group after the group is attacked by an unknown entity, and is then attacked himself, presumably by the same unknown entity.

It's a tense sequence.

Some time later, furniture store owner Clark is struggling to cope with his alcoholism and recent divorce, as well as the fact that his store is failing, all while there is something weird going on with the wiring, leading to high electrical bills, flickering lights, and power outages. Also, maybe worst of all, Clark is living in the store. But on the upside, at least he regularly visits his therapist, Mary Kline—who has her own massive amount of trauma as a result of her childhood with a mentally ill mother, something she has been thinking about a lot more lately, due to the recent demolition of her childhood home.

They're both a pair of depressing people with depressing problems.

Then one night, as he tries to deal with one of the power-outages, Clark notices a glowing slit in a wall of the store’s basement showroom. There's light from behind the wall. When he pushes on it, his hand phases through the wall. Clark ends up in that same strange world of yellow rooms, fluorescent-lit hallways, and malformed furniture that we saw in the beginning of the room. While exploring, Clark finds a bunch of work badges and old computer discs from Async Research Institute in a duffel bag stuffed in a crawlspace, but before he can figure out what they are, an unseen creature chases him. Clark narrowly escapes back through the portal in the wall, and back to the relative safety of his furniture store.

Understandably, he is a bit shook.

During this, Async Research Institute scientist Phil sees Clark in the Backrooms when he appears one of their surveillance cameras.

Meanwhile, Clark tells Mary about the Backrooms, but she doesn’t believe him, mostly because he seems like a crazy person. Determined to prove to Mary that he isn't, Clark recruits his assistant manager, Kat, and her boyfriend, Bobby—a pair who definitely give off that particular community college stoner je ne sais quoi—to accompany him, and film his next expedition.

It goes very badly.

Some time later, Async Research Institute scientist Phil recognizes Clark, the guy he saw on the Backrooms surveillance camera, when one of Clark’s pirate-themed furniture store commercials plays on tv. Around the same time, Mary has started to worry about Clark, so she visits his store, expecting the worst, but instead finds the portal in the basement. She enters the Backrooms, intent on finding Clark.

And she does…

I won’t spoil the rest, because honestly, the main thing this film has going for it is its first-time-watch tension.

That’s not to say that it’s a bad film.

It’s good actually. Well… kind of. At least parts of it is. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s fine. It’s really fine. But it's definitely an experience in diminshing returns, and it's not something that I'm going to bother ever watching it again. And not because it’s soooo scary, or unpleasant, or bad either, but because… there's no real value in a second watch, because ultimately, there's nothing of substance here. Which is the film's entire problem.

Still, credit where credit is due.

This film really does know how to ratchet up the tension, and it uses that tension to make some legitimately scary moments in this film that is all about how some men will create a seemingly endless labyrinthine hell of rooms in order to get out of going to therapy, while some women are frustratingly terrible at running away from monsters. And sure, a big part of the tension is often due to the film’s reliance on the cheap but effective trick of POV filmmaking, but fair's fair, even if it‘s cheap trick, it still works really really well, no denying that. Plus, the cast is filled with some impressive talents, and they make the most of their roles. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, they’re all great.

The problem is the script.

There’s just no meat here. There’s no answer. There’s no resolution. There’s no point. And I think the problem is specifically because it's creepypasta. With these internet campfire stories, you’re supposed to get a chill up your spine and that’s it. There's no such thing as character arcs or deep insights into humanity. There isn't even a metaphor for society. It's just a jump scare. "Boo! Creepy, right?" But while true, yeah, it's creepy, that's it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just... is what it is, and the longer it goes on, the more this becomes apparent as a problem.

And I guess that makes sense, right? When you take a person who made their bones by latching onto a particular creepypasta, and then pay them to go and make a longer version of it than they usually make, that's pretty much what you'll get... a longer than usual creepypasta.

Again, that’s not to say that it’s not cool, or that it doesn't have some good stuff going on. It is cool, and it does have some good stuff going on. The set-up really is awesome. The film looks good. It's appropirately creepy and atmospheric and this yellow nightmare of carpeted rooms and hallways will absolutely make your hair stand on end.

BUT...

There’s nothing to make of it in the end. And if we're being honest, the only trick this film really has is replicating that feeling of being in a dream and something is chasing you, but you can’t see what. Effective in the moment, sure, but once you see that the thing doesn’t catch you, and also, that's all the film has to say… like I said, diminishing returns.

As good as the set-up is, Backrooms just feels incomplete.

What little narrative cohesion there is completely falls apart by the back half. Its ending is that it just stops at a certain point and the credits roll. And despite the fact that it provides no answers, at the same time, it explains so much shit. There's whole scenes of explaining things, but it's all shit that doesn't need to be explained, the kind of thing that a more experienced director maybe would rely on his cast of seriously talented actors to impart through their performances. Instead, there’s a lot of air being used up here, but very little substance. Unfortunately, the film's most insightful metaphor is when you find out that there's these half-alive echoes of real people in the Backrooms, but they're not real themselves, that they're all actually made up of a spongey cake-like substance. I don't think Parsons intended for this to be such a perfect metaphor for his film, but... there it is.

There's nothing of substance here, it's just cake.

The worst part is that the script is almost there. It's almost saying something. There’s something about damaged people, and unresolved emotional baggage in there, but it's clear the film doesn't know exactly what that is, just as it's clear that it really isn't interested in sussing out what it is. Instead, it just kind of nods in the vague direction of a meaning. A better writer could've made something out this pretty decent set-up and situation. Instead, all we have here is vibes, nothing but creepy vibes.

But then, like I said, that’s creepypasta for you.

This is why I haven’t bothered scrolling through Creepypasta sites for a good decade or so. Creepypastas are fun in the same way campfire stories are fun, but like a campfire, they're mostly just smoke. And really, they all seem to end in the same place. Pretty much all creepypastas are basically just the beginning of an X-files episode before Mulder and Scully show up. They're Cold Openings, nothing more. Great set-up, a nice shock, and no finish.

That's what this film is.

Plus, it definitely does not stick the landing in the end. I think it was in Danse Macabre where Stephen King talks about how in stories it’s always scarier to go up the attic stairs and open the attic door, then it is to finally see the monster behind the door, because it's at that point you can then start to understand the monster, which is the moment when the monster begins to lose its power. And man, is that ever true here, because once you actually see the monster in the Backrooms, well…

It's pretty fucking stupid.

But there's no denying the success of Backrooms. It's a huge hit. People love it. With its success, as well as the success of Obsession, currently the ninth and the seventh highest grossing films of the year domestically, respectively, and with both films having been made by YouTubers, there’s a lot of big talk going around that the future of Hollywood lies in YouTubers.

But I don’t think this is true.

To me, the whole supposition is wrong. If you’re looking for fresh blood to revitalize a dying system, outsiders with new perspectives, then why look in the most mainstream platform in the world? The question is whether or not there's actual talent on display, the platform shouldn't even be part of the conversation. Adding Youtube to this equation is like crediting televisions for Severance being good. Filmmakers are going to make films, just like they always have, and they'll use the resources they have available. Youtube is just one platform, like TikTok, Vimeo, or a Super8 camera and a bedsheet, an old camcorder, or even an IPhone, so I'm not saying that I don't believe that there are potentially amazing creatives on Youtube right not, I'm saying that it's not because of Youtube that this is true. I mean, what’s the specific bonus or freedom, or anything like that, that is inherent to the YouTube platform that you can’t get elsewhere? What specificaly does the YouTube platform provide that encourages, emboldens, or assists these new filmmakers‘ visions that they can’t get elsewhere?

Eyes on their project? Is that it? Views?

I suppose that's true, but honestly, is that really a good thing? Especially for a young filmmaker? Because to me, the only thing that YouTube can be said that it actually provides is instant access to relentless feedback from the worst possible version of a Burbank test audience, but on a global scale. That kind of potential shitstorm can kill creative voices. It certainly looks like there won't be any new Amazing Digital Circus content from its creator Gooseworx for this very reason. Plus, both this film and Obsession clearly show that while these filmmakers might have vision, they still lack a general world experience in a way that hinders their abilities as storytellers, and honestly, neither one is a good screenwriter.

Plus, are these really new ideas?

The idea behind The Backrooms is over a decade old, and the shades of the other properties who occupy similar spaces, like Jordan Peele’s second movie, Us, or the novel by Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves, are clear. Meanwhile, Obsession is just a new version of the Monkey’s Paw. And that's without even talking about the legacy of the Twilight Zone. Don’t get me wrong, both of these films look great, and are fun in their way, but at their core, these are just the same old ideas in some new wrapping paper, and these filmmakers are just exploring familiar spaces with a fresh count of paint.

That's not a revolution, that's just revisiting the status quo.

Still, they're clearly talented, and artists grow and their work changes, so my point is, these filmmakers have succeeded through their own talent--and also due to the usual amount of luck where it's definitely important to be in the right place at the right time–but none of that success is in any way because of the Youtube platform, and really, it seems like it's in spite of it.

As I said when talking about Obsession, Hollywood has never met a burgeoning trend that it wasn't more than willing to run down and devour in a frenzy of ill-advised purchases and rushed scripts that are pushed out to screens too soon. I fear that our immediate future is going to be a lot of “horror” films that for a time will all take place in carpeted office spaces under florescent lighting. Fingers crossed for a good script or two...

But as far as Backrooms is concerned, while there’s definitely a lot of good set-up, as well as a lot of disappointing failure to capitalize on that set-up, I still think it's worth checking out at least once. It’s a good first watch. I‘ll be interested in seeing something else from Kane Parsons in the future, something that is hopefully new and non-Backrooms-related. Because this fever will break, and I don’t expect too many "future of horror" conversations to include this film or Obsession a year or two from now, so hopefully now that both Parsons and Curry Barker have made their mark, they will find a way to maintain their place. Because despite how I've went on, I did enjoy this film, and I do think it's worth watching at least once.

But in the end, my general overall reaction reminds me a bit of how I felt after watching Disclosure Day, in that, while yes, I enjoyed both films, the more I think about them, the less I think of them.