Last night I saw Kane Parsons’ auspicious feature film directing debut, Backrooms based on the viral web series of the same name Parsons created. Backrooms stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark, a depressed and bitter furniture store owner who discovers an anomalous entry into a void populated by a maze of ever expanding rooms with uncanny hallways and malformed furniture. Upon taking this to his therapist, Clark resolves to prove the existence of this place by hiring an employee and her boyfriend, who is a videographer, to accompany him to this place so that he would have proof that he could then show to anyone. Shortly thereafter, Clark disappears and his therapist investigates and comes upon the threshold to the Backrooms. Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor lead a great cast, but the real star of the film is the engrossing world beyond and it’s mysteries and dangers therein.
Kane Parsons has a great sense for creating dread using color and off-kilter music to manipulate his audience’s emotions at times creating moments of existential wonder and terror while still at times wisely, including moments of absurdity, not just in the void, but in the natural look of the films depiction of what the real world is with its bizarre colorations and production design that creates a constant sense of one place bleeding into another.
The film did have moments reminiscent of similar cosmic horror and science fiction features like Annihilation, The Signal and Banshee Chapter. With its mix of emotional honesty, visual creativity, and psychological depth, Backrooms is easy to recommend for anyone looking for something off the beaten path.
(C) Copyright 2026 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Check out other Transmissions at the link below:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQo9UtkyeIY85N7KiyM1BomhMghgFKMTj&si=N_qzJko-Iun5Y4Xq
(C) Copyright 2026 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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