Film Title: Backrooms
Director: Kane Parsons
Writer: Will Soodik
Starring: Chiwetel Ejifor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass
Release Date: May 29, 2026
Production Companies: A24, Atomic Monster, 21 Laps Entertainment, Chernin Entertainment, and Oddfellows Pictures
Robert’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5
At one point in Backrooms, characters watch 1984’s The Neverending Story. That film follows a boy, Bastian (Barret Oliver), who gets entangled and ultimately physically transported into the mythical world of Fantasia. The real world sucks for Bastian, so entering Fantasia intrigues him. Why does this reference matter? Read on.
Backrooms follows Chiwetel Ejifor as Clark, the struggling owner (and resident) of a furniture store in 1990. Clark spends his days fretting over the weird power fluctuations in his store, complaining about his ex-wife to his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve), and filming very low budget commercials with his employees Bobby (Finn Bennett) and Kat (Lukita Maxwell). One night, Clark discovers a secret opening in the basement of the store. Inside he finds a labyrinthine series of “backrooms.” There he finds endless hallways, bizarre doors, and piles of strange furniture. There’s more, of course. Clark eventually goes missing, and Mary, who struggles with her own traumas, decides to search for him.
The star of Backrooms is, well, the backrooms. The nightmarish and neverending corridors hide piles of junk, curious technology, and the scariest thing of all—humankind’s penchant for artificial lightning and unnatural angles. Basically, it’s like if MC Escher designed an office while freebasing cocaine. The backrooms are what’s known as “liminal spaces”—areas that aren’t quite “there” or normal (or maybe in this case, remembered). Think of an abandoned mall lost to space and time, and you’ll be in the right vicinity.
The filmmakers could have gone with a pair of unknown twenty-somethings for the leads, especially since Director Kane Parsons is himself twenty years old. However, the crew opted for Ejiofor and Reinsve (the latter of whom is fresh off her Oscar nomination for Sentimental Value), and I think this move was a net positive. For instance, Ejiofor really nails Clark’s frustration and regret. Like The Neverending Story’s Bastian, his family is broken and life is tough (maybe he tackles the backrooms a little too eagerly?). At his therapy sessions, he roleplays with Mary and rails against his estranged wife. Reinsve possesses a bottled, tortured quality as Mary. The only character bit I’ll ding (minor spoiler incoming) is that one of the heroes morphed slightly into a villain of sorts, but this flaw should be forgiven because the choice allows the other main character to shine.
As far as the horror goes, the film is a mix of traditional and found footage, the latter of which is particularly effective. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing a full-length found-footage sequel. Having not seen Parson’s original YouTube shorts, I went in not really knowing what to expect. I’d seen a glimpse of some sort of abstract monster from the originals, but what we got was much more terrifying. Robert Bobroczkyi (he played a giant creature in Alien: Romulus) features in the film, so that may give you an indication of what to expect (he’s almost eight feet tall!). The bland 90s setting complements the horror, and, if you’re familiar with the surreal work of Osgood Perkins (Longlegs, Keeper), it shouldn’t surprise you that he’s a producer on this movie.
The only real negative I can conjure is that there were occasional, long stretches of dialogue that threatened to derail the film for me. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour 50 minutes. It felt much shorter.
In The Neverending Story, Bastian ultimately triumphs and integrates into Fantasia (and blends that world into reality). What about Clark? You’ll have to see Kane Parson’s debut feature film to find out if he escapes the backrooms.
Robert Zerbe’s writing has previously appeared in Trembling With Fear and on the Creepy podcast. He has yet to hack his obsessive-compulsive disorder into something useful. Robert lives in Florida with his wife, two children, and love of movies. You can follow him on Bluesky at @runonsandwich.
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