Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve Wander Through the Nightmarish Corners of Kane Parsons’ Immersive ‘Backrooms’

Alci Rengifo

The story behind “Backrooms” would remain intriguing even if the film were not a memorably unnerving visual puzzle. Its director, Kane Parsons, is a mere twenty years old, born just as YouTube was being unleashed on the world. The latter information is important since Parsons began making a series of shorts connected to social media trends known as “creepypasta” and an obsession with liminal space aesthetics. Hollywood is clearly paying attention to what’s exploding online and A24 soon came calling. This whole story gains more relevance since the film adaptation of Parsons’ concept is not bad at all. What the emerging filmmaker does well is expand on his fascinating visual idea, creating a psychological experience dependent on the strangeness of spaces, nightmare logic and some strong acting.

Like the original YouTube shorts, Parsons sets the plot in the 1990s. Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) is having a therapy session with Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a frustrated architect and divorcee. He also owns a local furniture store, Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, where he shoots ads dressed as a pirate despite the business being named after the Ottoman Empire. At these sessions Clark just seems to vent over his wife leaving while Mary does what she can. Over at the furniture store, the lights keep going out. Convinced there must be some issue with the wiring, Clark goes snooping and instead finds himself literally walking through a wall. He emerges into what seems to be another corridor, then an endless series of hallways, draped in shadow. Various languages resound from what sounds like a speaker. Random pieces of furniture are piled or strewn about. This vast empty space seems to be a reflection or mimic of the store, though the angles are distorted and passageways look endless. He recruits his employees to follow him in with a video camera. They stumble onto something potentially horrifying.

“Backrooms” is the first truly skillful adaptation of a creepypasta concept. Its origins are a prime example of genres merging with internet culture. The “Backroom” obsession flourished on a 4Chan thread from a spooky photo of a furniture store under renovation in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Parsons began his YouTube shorts based on this trend in 2022, when he was merely sixteen. The film briefly retains some of the VHS imagery that helped make Parsons’ series a sensation borrowing from the found footage genre. Parsons did not write the screenplay, instead Will Soodik fashions a psychological drama out of the backbone of the concept. Unlike past creepypasta big screen transfers such as 2018’s unwatchable “Slender Man,” this is a serious film made with an eye towards genuine artistry. The casting itself is a testament to how seriously A24 wants the material to come across. Chiwetel Ejiofor is one of the best working actors around while Renate Reinsve of Norway has been a rising international name since “The Worst Person in the World.” 

Like the recent “Obsession,” this is a thriller that comprehends that good scares work when tethered to plausible characters. Clark entering the backrooms becomes the embodiment of his own confused, frighteningly chaotic life. The endless corridors and strange sounds seem to echo his trembling alcoholic psyche. Ejiofor evokes real pain and internal sadness as a man trapped by his fatal flaws. Parsons and cinematographer Jeremy Cox don’t go for kinetic style but a looming, unnerving tension in the way the camera seems to see all along with us, meaning it can feel just as disoriented by the empty spaces, piles of random clothing and sudden, shocking surprises. Disembodied moans, voices and sudden movements abound in the backrooms and the film forces us to wait as it inches closer to show us what’s lurking around. Clark goes missing and Mary then has to follow. She has her own backstory involving childhood trauma, though it feels less essential to the plot. Reinsve brings great, controlled tension to her role, playing the shrink as someone trained to deal with others’ anxieties. Now she has to keep her own fears at bay when she too enters the backrooms. 

This could have easily then become pure gimmicks. Parsons does spoil one element of the mystery at the beginning with one particular shot, though it isn’t fatal to the rest of the narrative. Those who have seen the YouTube videos will guess certain reveals, but the overall story sustains itself as a surreal, even intimate journey. Some of the scares in the backrooms turn out to be directly linked to the characters’ inner scars, like frighteningly distorted manifestations. David Lynch is certainly an influence in how Parsons slips into stream of consciousness moments or nightmarish images operating on dream logic. “Backrooms” avoids becoming conventional, while also avoiding getting too experimental. It is not “I Saw the TV Glow.” It gets under your skin by understanding that we can become our monsters. This is a strong directorial debut by a young talent who will no doubt fuel the creative nightmares of countless others tinkering with their editing apps and software.

“Backrooms” releases May 29 in theaters nationwide.