Backrooms Review: The viral internet phenomenon makes the jump to the big screen in Kane Parsons’ feature film debut. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, Backrooms is a surreal and deeply unsettling horror experience that trades jump scares for atmosphere, anxiety and psychological dread.
Prepare to be baffled, your mind warped and your anxiety levels increased by, gulp, architecture.
Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a single, middle-aged alcoholic who owns a failing furniture warehouse store – a job far removed from his qualifications as an architect.
Dressing up as a pirate for a no-budget television advert to drive customers into his patron-free shop was not exactly how he dreamed his life would turn out.
At least he sees a therapist, Dr Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) regularly to try to work through his issues.
When he spends the night at work to solve the mystery of the inflated power bill (despite switching the lights off every night), Clarke discovers, while down in the basement, more rooms beyond the back wall that he can walk through.
At first it appears to be another office space or warehouse, but the deeper he explores the labyrinth of rooms, the more he realises it is not that simple.
The rooms are vast and many, their designs are slightly off-kilter, there are backwards Stop signs, piles of clothes and furniture, and in some cases the furniture appears to have partially sunk into the floor – it would have Salvador Dali scratching his head.
While the rooms seem endless, there is a heavy feeling of claustrophobia.
Then there is the added threat of someone or something lurking.
When Clarke disappears, Dr Kline goes looking for him and discovers the backrooms and the horrors for herself.
Who knew architecture could induce such unease and anxiety?
There is very little in this film that jumps out for a jolt, and not an ounce of gore to make you squirm, but the atmosphere achieved with off-putting angles, set design, imagery and movement is wild and enough to induce terror.
It is surreal, dream-like, disorienting and mind-bendy, but even when we come to point of trying to explain what this space is and what it means (at least from Clarke’s point of view), I’m still not sure I fully grasped the concept.
Does it all represent his psyche? Is it another dimension? Is each room a warped memory? Or is it deliberately vague to leave it open to interpretation? Perhaps a second viewing would be required.
The refusal to provide solid answers or explanations is very in line with The X-Files or Lost, and yet, I didn’t care.
It was already such an enjoyably intriguing, disturbing ride that a logical explanation could have undone everything.
Kane Parsons Delivers One of the Year’s Most Unsettling Horror Films
It is mighty impressive what 20-year-old co-writer/director Kane Parsons has achieved, with horror giants James Wan and Osgood Perkins in his corner as producers.
For someone so young to be able to tap into what makes us uncomfortable, uneasy or find terrifying without resorting to traditional tactics, and with such confidence and restraint, indicates a successful future in filmmaking.
For a movie about people wandering through wacky rooms at a deliberately dread-inducing pace to go for almost two hours sounds criminal, but if you find yourself on this film’s wavelength, it is an incredibly rewarding experience.
I wouldn’t mind wandering back into this mysterious and anxiety-inducing labyrinth again sometime.
Backrooms is now playing in Australian cinemas.
For fans of atmospheric horror, psychological thrillers and surreal filmmaking, Backrooms is one of the most unique cinema experiences of the year.
8/10
Director: Kane Parsons
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rating: MA15+
