a glitch in the system that haunts the narrative
The quote I keep coming back to with this film is “It’s like describing a dog to someone who’s never seen one, and then asking them to draw it.” Those are the Backrooms.
Image from W magazine
Backrooms leaves the viewer with the exact feeling they would expect. There is something so eerie about a liminal space that doesn’t seem to have an end. Why is it so familiar but slightly off? Where in your subconscious have you been here before? I have to give Backrooms a 4 / 5 stars for the feeling I ( and everyone else) can’t seem to shake.
The success of this film is astronomical and should not be taken lightly. The origin story for the concept of backrooms is enticing. Originating from an anonymous image board where someone requested images that brought a feeling of unsettlement or where something just felt “off”. The original backrooms image was sent as a reply, with the same yellow hallway that just felt endless. From there it skyrocketed into a Reddit forum that included all of these sensationally creepy empty rooms. Directed by Kane Parsons, he had originally taken the concept and developed it into a Youtube series called “Found Footage” and adapted the concept into the full A24 feature film. At only twenty years old, he created the digital world of a glitch in reality.
The coloring of Backrooms brings the entire film together. The faded mustard yellow haunts the narrative of the film. The dim lighting, the unsettling colors on the wall that never seem to brighten quite enough, the feeling of knowing it’s the last place you want to be but not knowing why, and the concept that you never know what or who is lurking around the corner when you can’t find your way out. I think we’ve all experienced that dream at one point or another, where you feel like you are five seconds away from something detrimental but it never actually happens. Instead, just the feeling of being five seconds away from disaster in a never- ending loop. That is what this film successfully brings to life. Until finally the nightmare caught up to them, but what exactly is the nightmare ?
Image from Deadline
Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor bring a tremendous contrast to the screen that balances the film out in all the right ways. The pent up resentment from Clark (Chiwetel) and packed away trauma from Dr. Mary Kline (Renate) exemplifies the opposite ways the backrooms will find you and how you will choose to adapt within them.
The quote I keep coming back to with this film is “It’s like describing a dog to someone who's never seen one, and then asking them to draw it.” Those are the backrooms. Places that have been remembered but not all the way. A glitch in the system that will haunt the narrative. This is a must see.
Shelby Ferguson
