Backrooms
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Review: ‘Backrooms’ is a Nail-Biting Exercise in Analog Horror that Brings One of the Internet’s Most Creepy Urban Legends to the Big Screen
May 28, 2026Ben MK
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The dread of staring down a dark hallway without knowing what lurks at the other end is a feeling horror fans know well. And in 2019, that feeling took on a life of its own, when a user on 4chan posted a simple yet ominous image — a large, empty room with yellow walls, fluorescent lighting, and old, dank carpet — that soon gave rise to the Internet urban legend known as the Backrooms. Fast forward seven years, and the Backrooms have become something of an online phenomenon, spawning a plethora of lore, including a web series of the same name by Kane Parsons, all focused on the liminal horror of being trapped in an endless labyrinth populated by a mysterious threat. But does a big-screen adaptation have what it takes to terrify moviegoers and scare up a hit at the box office? Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) once had career aspirations to be an architect, but due to the various twists and turns life threw his way, he now operates a kitschy, pirate-themed furniture store called Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire. Estranged from his wife, who kicked him out of his own house due to his drinking problems, Clark has also been calling the store home, sleeping in the showroom every night and leaving it only on occasion to visit his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve). Recently, however, the store has been experiencing unexplained power fluctuations that only occur after hours. And when Clark ventures down to its lower level one evening to investigate, what he discovers will not only change his life, but Mary's as well. Falling though a seemingly innocuous-looking wall, Clark ends up in what he initially thinks is just a hidden extension of the store — one that appears to stretch for miles underground, comprised of a maze of rooms and hallways that look like they leapt straight out of some surrealist painting. What he soon comes to realize is that this is no mere manmade space. And while it might seem like a location completely devoid of life, he isn't the first person to have visited it. Originally discovered by a former MRI manufacturing company called Async, who have since been regularly sending its researchers into the space like guinea pigs, to map out the area, these Backrooms go on endlessly and are structured with no apparent rhyme or reason. Yet, despite its neverending and labyrinthine nature, it's not so much the Backrooms' vastness that makes it so terrifying, but rather the presence of a mysterious creature with a penchant for stalking whatever soul is unfortunate enough to stumble upon its domain. It's a vicious monster with no qualms about killing or maiming its prey — still, its most unnerving characteristic is how it attacks its victims with nary a thought, not even of malice. For Clark, though, it's also an entity that he inexplicably has a bizarre connection with. And when he starts to understand the true nature of the Backrooms, he'll use it to ensnare Mary, projecting onto her his hatred for his ex-wife and luring her to the Backrooms to punish her in the same way that he longs to punish the woman who he blames for ruining his life. Set in 1990, before the advent of cell phones and the Internet, the result is a nail-biting exercise in suspenseful, analog storytelling that will have audiences on the edge of their seats. What makes Backrooms genuinely unsettling, however, isn't the fact that it strips the genre down to its bare bones, but rather how it uses its eerie setting to reflect back onto viewers a vision of just how twisted and depraved we as human beings can be. Suffice to say, fans of Parsons' extremely popular YouTube anthology will no doubt be pleased by what he and screenwriter Will Soodik have come up with here, as they bring the Backrooms from the small screen to the multiplex, introducing new characters into the mythology and crafting a more cinematic experience in the process. As for those unfamiliar with the backstory, the film also serves as a compelling introduction, and will surely have some moviegoers going online to find out more after the credits have rolled. Either way, Backrooms employs its high-concept premise with the utmost effectiveness, immersing the audience in a palpable sense of tension for its first two acts, then paying it all off with a third act that will go down as one of the most fantastically twisted climaxes of the year. Make no mistake, whether you're well-versed in the lore or a total newcomer, this is a movie that grabs you from the start and doesn't let go. Just be careful not to no-clip out of reality along the way — because you never know where you might end up. Backrooms releases May 29th, 2026 from Elevation Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of R for language and some violent content/bloody images. Its runtime is 1 hr. 50 min. |
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