Backrooms
New nightmare fuel has dropped and we can all thank Backrooms director Kane Parsons.
A feature-length expansion of the filmmaker’s YouTube series, this thoroughly creepy experience derives its strength from delicious ambiguity, and Parsons and his collaborators wisely don’t explain too much but also leave a hell of a lot open-ended.
After a spooky yet nausea-inducing introduction in which a camera-wielding explorer is hunted by a large, shadowy figure in what looks like an endless office building, Backrooms blessedly settles into a higher production value.
Set in 1990, the film follows divorced, depressed, alcoholic Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as he struggles to keep his kitschy furniture store afloat and, with the help of his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value), come to some level of peace with his past mistakes. However, her haunting by a childhood with a mentally ill mother (Krista Kosonen, Blade Runner 2049) adds another layer of intrigue and raises doubt regarding her ability to help her client.
This parallel unrest injects extra tension into a bizarre sequence in which Clark passes through a wall in the basement of his business and enters what appears to be wherever the initial explorer was trapped. Realized by production designer Danny Vermette (Longlegs; The Monkey), this extra-dimensional world eerily resembles something AI might create if it was asked to assemble every room a certain person had ever seen into one building, resulting in rampant unease and plenty of “Don’t!” moments that crank up the suspense and keep viewers guessing when and from where the next scare will arise.
That sense of dread multiplies as Clark brings others into this realm, complications that amplify the danger of this mysterious place and raise a host of new, tantalizing questions regarding the laws that govern it. Parsons presents it all with a commendable confidence that heralds the arrival of a major creative talent, even though the script by Will Soodik (Ash vs Evil Dead) ultimately struggles with balancing a wonderfully weird one-off tale and setting up what appears to be the next long-running horror series.
Whatever Parsons decides to do next, he’s more than earned viewer trust with this impressive feature directorial debut.
Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, the Fine Arts Theatre, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
