Backrooms (2026) | Film Review

So, I went into this pretty blind having not watched the series and avoided the trailers. Went in with an open mind, expecting something amazing (due to the insane amount of hype this was getting) and left incredibly disappointed. Highlight was the trailer for Evil Dead Burn (2026), the popcorn & a pint of Guinness after (I'm a simple guy). I found it disjointed, poorly written and utterly random with very little to enjoy. Whilst I did like moments and certain aspects of the film, this was a HUGE let down.

We've all got our favourite sub-genres within horror, and honestly liminal horror isn't a huge pull for me (well THIS liminal horror wasn't). I mean someone says liminal horror I tend to think about horrors like Kubrick's The Shining (1980), Robin Hardy's delectably messed up The Wicker Man (1973), Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002) or Coscarelli's Phantasm (1979). All of which I enjoyed significantly more than this.

Not that I didn't get it; just very much like Midsommar (2019), I really didn't care for it. Don't think the overhype helped, but there we go. And for that reason, I don't think I'd be able to give this any sort of fair review. So, I'm gonna let Mike take over from here. Enjoy! - Adam

Backrooms (2026, Parsons) is the latest horror from a line of lower budget feature films from YouTube filmmakers and - like Curry Barker’s Obsession (2026) - has taken the cinema by storm. Albeit, Backrooms is more of a complex entity than other releases at this time, expanding on what was originally a Creepypasta (horror stories shared across the web, usually on dedicated forums) and a highly successful series of YouTube anthology shorts.

The Backrooms follows Clark, a failing furniture store owner, battling financial ruin and his own personal demons. Recently separated from a wife he holds animosity toward, Clark essentially lives within his store and after receiving an extortionate leccy bill - like British Gas randomly turned up unannounced - Clark, in a bout of alcohol fuelled anger, accidentally stumbles across the cause of such a mammoth fee - a gateway to the backrooms.

“Woah, woah, woah.” I’ll pretend to hear you say. “What is ‘the backrooms’?”

Well, dear friend. I haven’t a goose of a clue.

I’m not going to pretend to know everything about what / why the backrooms is / could be - Parsons’ has been doing a great job expanding upon the lore, so I’ll leave that to him - but, here is my understanding (I may be wrong) from Parsons’ material (with receipts):

The backrooms is a liminal space in-between spaces. Either created, or discovered during a Government program (see, Backrooms - Prototype) and later intended to be exploited by Async - a corporation that used Project KV31 to open a ‘threshold’ into the backrooms (see, Mar11_90_ARCHIVE.tar and The Backrooms - The Third Test) - with an intention to traverse / ship items and answer a storage / living capacity issue (see, Backrooms - Presentation).

Although Async document much of their engagement with the backrooms, much of the space is undiscovered / unexplored, making it all the more easier to get lost in the labyrinth. Sets of rules (see, Backrooms - Informational Video) are developed by Async, to aid further exploration / understanding and keep the area controlled. However, there are instances whereby civilians accidentally enter the backrooms e.g. falling through cracks / floors and documenting their traversal (see, The backrooms (Found Footage) & Backrooms (Found Footage 2)) causing the number of missing persons to increase across multiple areas (see, Backrooms - Missing Persons).

As you’ll no doubt decipher - I have a very surface level of understanding, but a great deal of intrigue nonetheless. A wonderful exploration into enigmatic science fiction, embracing both limino' and kenophobia (fears of threshold areas e.g. corridors, and empty spaces). 

Having previously followed the original The Backrooms (2022-2026) series - and ignoring much of the poorly created games on Steam - I had high expectations and looked forward to visit the, somehow disturbing, yellow fluorescent light-bleached areas of the enigmatic backrooms on the big screen. Helmed by the creator of the series, Parsons has had an intimate relationship with the subject, shaping the viewers understanding - through video logs and other assortments of short clips - and a unnerving style. So, who better to deliver a big screen debut of something created with the original series in mind, but tailored for mainstream audiences.

“Tailored for mainstream audiences”, is exactly what we received. And that may be the reason why I’m torn to understand whether I enjoyed the film, or whether I vehemently disliked it.

Now we have the basics, let’s get into the review.

The Backrooms presents the space as wonderfully eerie void, featuring the iconic yellow fluorescent light-bleached corridors and rooms, as well as the familiar, hideous, buzzing sound enveloping all those that enter. The prolonged long shots of Clark traversing through the corridors beautifully captured that feeling of utter isolation and emptiness, broken only by distorted voices, or illegible sounds just made it the cherry on top.

The visual design is magnificent, especially the exaggerated entries to other areas; through the Escher-esque doors, or slanted crevices, that were a treat and generally enhanced the feeling of unease and allure of the location. The earlier moments of the film really added to the overall dread that someone, or something, could potentially be with Clark, stalking from an unchartered area. 

Recognisable items, such as specific chairs and shoes used in Clark’s introductory scene added to the enigma (the chair used in the commercial and shoes of his later companions sunk into the floor) and of course, the return - from the shorts - of objects positioned in unusual spaces e.g. reverse STOP sign in a hallway, or cardboard cut-outs, were a treat to see.

The first and subsequent second traversal of the backrooms were the highlight of the film, for me. This is likely my biggest disappointment of the film - we couldn't spend more time focused purely on traversal, exploration and general questioning of the locations existence and inevitable repercussions.

Through the film, the backrooms is a tool to explore our two main character’s psyche and trauma experienced in the ‘outside’ world, specifically for Clark, an aspiring architect with a reliance of alcohol and repressed anger. I did feel this focus on both Clark and Mary’s (Renate Reinsve) trauma / backstories sacrificed a lot of dedicated screen time that could have been used to expand navigation of the void, if it stayed central to a singular character.

I fully appreciate and understand the necessity to ground a liminal film in reality and build an ‘outside’ world in order to garner audience engagement with characters, but felt the presentation of Mary’s backstory was poorly developed and generally lacked in execution. I’d lean more toward the subpar dialogue in many of the more emotive scenes and the general writing for scenes set outside of the backrooms, being the cause to my diminishing enjoyment.

In short, and in Filmmaking 101, you need to develop characters to bridge them - and the audience - into unrealistic scenarios… I just didn’t care enough about any of the characters, with the exception of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Clark.

Backrooms (2026) | Film Review

Being a phenomenal actor at the best of times, Ejiofor’s performance, as Clark, carried much of the film and stole every moment, from his first scene, to his very last. I’d initially assumed - from the trailer - he’d appear in the opening scene(s) and no further, but was very pleased to see that not be the case. That would have been a complete missed opportunity and potentially cause many of the focal scenes to feel flat if given to the other members of the ensemble.

That’s not to deny the cast their dues, although they weren’t standouts they worked well with the material given. In their defence and as previously mentioned, I didn’t feel the dialogue hit all that well, nor do I feel the outside world segments were all that well executed.

I did enjoy the return to old 1990s video camcorder footage in both the opening and later scene, that gave the old Blair Witch vibes and general feeling of unease. The opening felt like it was taken straight from the original series of shorts and gave me a false-hope that we’d see much more inclusion of Async / the darkness that lies within the backrooms.

Although some elements of that darker side of the backrooms were intriguing - particularly during a scene with Clark and Mary - and could’ve been a focus point, we were also introduced to an incredibly disappointing ‘antagonist’, inspired by the creature(s) in the YouTube shorts… but laughably abysmal. Much of the 3rd Act was incredibly disappointing and generally left a bittersweet taste for the overall experience.

This has actually been a difficult review to write. My thoughts are all over the place, my writing is somewhat nonsensical, but - without spoilers - it somewhat accurately represents what’s going on in my head. I went into the film with high expectations due to my own intrigue for the original shorts and my passion for liminal horror and that may have been the negative factor.

I should have left the cinema glazing this film and throwing recommendations like stones at a lake, but I felt half of the film let the other down. As bizarre as this may sound, the backrooms is a character in itself that garnered my intrigue and time investment - I don’t stick on Friday the 13th to get invested in the characters before they’re killed off, I watch it to see what Jason will do.

It’s difficult to articulate without outright saying, “it wasn’t what I wanted it to be”. I wholeheartedly understand why it wasn’t and why specific decisions were made - it wouldn’t be commercially successful to a mainstream audience.

Without sounding sarcastic, I applaud Parsons on the success of the film, a momentous achievement - no doubt, many more to come over the years. 

I just don’t know if I liked it, or not.

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My hope for the sequel: 

A primary inclusion of Async and the exploration of the backrooms. Treat the sequel as more science fiction, with elements of outright horror and continue to introduce more surrealist expression in both the setting and the camera trickery. The mainstream audience has now been introduced to the backrooms, let us journey through it and dive deeper into the void.

(But don’t listen to me, it’ll flop harder than every liminal film I made in the late 2000s / early 2010s) - Mike

Backrooms is out now.