Film Review – Backrooms

May 31st, 2026 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

Joining the growing wave of Youtubers turned feature filmmakers, director Kane Parsons’ Backrooms (2026) is an unnerving, mysterious, and captivating horror film. It takes advantage of the unknown – placing us in a position where we aren’t quite sure what is happening or what any of it means. But that doesn’t suggest that this isn’t a focused and sharply defined work. Lesser movies rely on throwing random elements on the wall and hoping that something sticks. The worst kind of movies are the ones that make things up out of spare parts. That is not the case here. Every piece works in cohesion with one another, even if it all looks arbitrary. There is a method to the madness, and that is what makes the film all the more unsettling.

Written by Will Soodik (based on Parsons’ online video series), the premise will call to mind the work of David Lynch – in how mundane, everyday Americana hides a sinister, supernatural undercurrent. Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) owns a small furniture store, but when we look closer we find he is struggling to move on from a recent divorce, which has led to an increase in his alcoholism. Clark tries to find some respite through is therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), who is our second protagonist. Mary has personal demons to deal with herself, namely the trauma of having a schizophrenic mother and the loss of her childhood home. Perhaps Mary – through her work and association with Clark – tries to be the savior she couldn’t be for her mother or for the house she grew up in. 

The writing and direction establish Clark and Mary’s backgrounds quickly – either through their conversations together or (in Mary’s case) with flashbacks. This sets up what is clearly the main attraction of the show. While checking the circuit breaker in the lower level of his store, Clark stumbles upon the existence of what appears to be an alternate universe, or “backroom.” He enters an area that looks like an office building, but the rooms, hallways and furniture are strange. Some rooms are completely bare, some have the furniture pushed to one side, others seem disfigured as though it were designed out of a nightmare. Each door leads to another room or hallway, going on forever with no exit in sight. It’s M.C. Escher’s Relativity in cinematic form. There is no explanation for why the backrooms exist, but one thing is for sure: there is some kind of menace lurking there, hunting whomever stumbles into the labyrinth. 

This premise invites an entire world of interpretations. Are the backrooms real or are they a figment of someone’s (or something’s) imagination? When Clark – and eventually Mary – enter the backrooms, are they experiencing something that was built, like a maze in which humans are the lab rats? Or is all this a reflection of Clark and Mary themselves, like a projection of their personal histories? And what monster is in there with them, stalking around the corners like a predator? Part of the fun of Backrooms is having all these questions running through our heads. We watch with anticipation as Clark and Mary weave their way from one location to the next, not knowing what they will encounter. The writing and direction stumble a bit when giving some answers to these questions in the latter stages. The film works much better when we don’t have a firm understanding of anything we see and hear.

I wonder if Kane Parsons enjoys playing video games. The structure of the narrative – in which characters explore different areas to find clues that reveal the nature of their surroundings – is a common and often used video game trope. From Doom to Portal, the list of games that utilizes this approach is long. Fortunately, Parsons and his team give Backrooms its own unique identity. Danny Vermette’s production design is a key standout, making each room and hallway a balance between minimalism and the surreal. Sometimes a hallway will be completely bare, but go through a door and we find furniture sticking out of the walls like a weird art exhibit. The cinematography (Jeremy Cox) does an exceptional job of making the environments a participating character. Clark and Mary are often placed in the middle and lower half of the frame – the wide-angle shots making the backgrounds overwhelm them visually. There is a sense of growing claustrophobia. Despite the rooms going on and on, Clark and Mary feel increasingly trapped, as though everything is closing in on them. 

For a story that is so off-beat and unlike your typical mainstream horror fare, it takes dedicated performances to pull it off. Thankfully, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve more than meet the challenge. They ground their respective roles – they play them sincerely and without a trace of irony. When Clark talks about his struggles with alcohol and the pain of his divorce, Ejiofor makes us believe that is all coming from a real place. Reinsve inhabits Mary with a need to go above and beyond to help others. What she went through with her mother fuels who she is as an adult. Perhaps that is why she is so determined to help Clark get past his issues. One of the best scenes doesn’t involve any scares at all – it involves a therapy session between Clark and Mary. His unwillingness to acknowledge his own shortcomings, and her efforts to break through his defenses shows two actors working perfectly in sync. Of course, their skillset also helps once the horror kicks into high gear. Part of what makes the film so jarring is from seeing the looks on Ejiofor and Reinsve’s faces as their characters dive deeper into the rabbit hole.

Backrooms is not perfect. The introduction of a third character – played by Mark Duplass – upends the narrative in ways that are not beneficial. He acts as a kind of bridge between the real world and the universe Clark and Mary discovered, and that only works as a detriment. The writing goes a little too far in revealing its hand, represented by Duplass’ role. This has nothing to do with him as an actor; he does what is required of him. But the character he plays is simply unneeded. Whenever he shows up, it sucks the magic right out of the screen. Where many movies profit from having an expanded universe, this is an instance where the story expanded too far out. 

That said, I really enjoyed Backrooms. It’s creative in its style and execution, contains some legitimate suspense, and features two actors operating in top form. There are good horror movies released every year, but 2026 is shaping up to have more offerings than usual. We can add this one to the list. I was completely absorbed by it from beginning to end. While I didn’t gel with every choice or direction it went, I was constantly on edge to see how everything played out. Kane Parsons has made an impressive debut feature. 

A24, Backrooms, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Vermette, David Lynch, Doom, Featured, Jeremy Cox, Kane Parsons, M.C. Escher, Mark Duplass, Portal, Relativity, Renate Reinsve, Will Soodik