Yet another very solid, unique horror movie that stands above the tropes.
The owner of a furniture shop finds a hidden door that leads into a mysterious, uncanny world of corridors. Does anyone believe him? What does this mean for his frayed mental state?
2026 is continuing the trend of small independents making movies – usually horror movies – from existing Internet fame. Backrooms is created by writer/director Kane Parsons, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Renate Reinsve, based off an Internet mini-series of the same name Parsons created. The movie is a slow-burn horror leaning into liminal spaces and themes of loss of self. It, along with Obsession, are currently running away with the box office, beating out Disney’s own Mandalorian & Grogu blockbuster.
The film follows Clark (Ejiofor), the owner of a failing furniture showroom in America. He has dreams of becoming an architect, but these have not manifested. All he has is therapy appointments to deal with his inner struggles with loneliness and anger. His therapist Mary (Reinsve) has her own inner demons, but strives to help him.
But when Clark finds a mysterious doorway in his store, a door leading to an impossible space beyond, he is compelled to investigate. What is beyond the doorway, and is there anything to be learned from it?
The origins of Backrooms is about as “Internet” as you can get. In 2019 forum users were asked to share disquieting photos. One was of an abandoned and empty furniture shop from 2002. With a user suggesting that these spaces are beyond our reality, the concept was born in director Kane Parsons’ mind. In 2022, a sixteen-year-old Parsons created a video (which would later expand into over twenty episodes) using the 3D software Blender. The same software that gave us the Academy Award-winning movie Flow in 2024. The videos are of a “found-footage” style.
With 2026’s Backrooms, we get new adaptation from Parsons, supported by A24.
Overall, the result is very good. Backrooms is a unique horror movie with its focus on liminal spaces and eerie disquiet. This isn’t a scare-a-minute Insidious-style affair. There are protracted moments of near-silence and observation. Which makes sense, given the original Backrooms videos’ effect on Internet horror culture since. Weird nested rooms. Blank, maze-like corridors. Doors upon ceilings. Warped and distorted furniture. Bottomless pits.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is a great central presence here. The audience hang on his every word; his performance is intense and just a bit odd. An early scene with Mary, we learn of his messy divorce, and struggling with social interactions. He sleeps in his store! But also, an architect finding impossible rooms and spaces? Makes a lot of sense he would be captivated to explore them.
A large portion of the film’s first half is focused on Clark and Mary’s lives. But this makes the eventual horrors and chaos in the middle and final acts all the sweeter. There is a sequence in the middle of this film that is spectacular. On top of the initial exploration and found-footage style camera work earlier, this is the de facto adaptation of Backrooms.
It is easy to recommend the film to horror fans. It and Exit 8 this year are unique experiences and both come from similar stock.
Although Backrooms is not without its drawbacks. Few as they are.
The nature of the titular Backrooms is often left to interpretation. Some audiences may find the ambiguity of story elements a little unrewarding. The subtext and allegories for some characters are harder to read than others. The film also started with a very deliberate first-person sequence (similarly to Exit 8; mirroring the source material) but it reveals the Backrooms immediately. This robs some of the impact when our protagonists eventually encounter them.
But the film is an excellent horror. It is the sort of horror that I value above others; putting jump scares aside and focusing on tension, atmosphere, and intrigue. The performances are all good. It has a vein of levity throughout, but racks the horror to eleven when it needs to.
