Kane Parsons, the 20-year-old up-and-coming film genius, has become the youngest director to have a film at #1 on Letterboxd in the world. “Backrooms,” released on May 5, instantly gained massive popularity and sold out movie theaters across the country. The film opened with an amazing Rotten Tomatoes score starting at 90% and a very ok IMDb score of 7.1/10. So, did “Backrooms” live up to the hype? Yes, and it was better than I thought it was going to be. Going into this film, I was expecting a corny, terribly shot and not at all terrifying film. However, I was shocked. Once the movie ended, I had no clue what I had just watched, it was that wild of a film.
First of all, “Backrooms” is one of the best shot films I have seen in a long time. This is one of the biggest things you need for a horror film to bring it all together and create the effect “Backrooms” has. A good chunk of the film is shot through the lens of a 90s film camera and definitely brings together the entire vibe. I believe “Backrooms” will be nominated for best cinematography at the Oscars and could win. The set throughout the film gets better and better and never seems to get bland. The visuals in the film were great, the props were next level, and the overall vibe of the set was eerie.
The main character, Clark, played by Chiwetel Ejofor, runs his own home goods store in California. Clark navigates himself by going to therapy and trying to get past his depression. Ejofor did an incredible job playing Clark, and his story shaped the entire film. Clark’s story also made a great story for his therapist, Dr. Mary Cline (Renate Reinsve), who is constantly trying to help Clark while also caring for her family and her own needs. Mary is probably my least favorite character in the movie, mainly because of how her character develops in the story. Both of these characters did an amazing job at their roles and also adapted to the very quick character change.
The ending definitely turned heads, leaving many people who did not like the ending, which definitely ended weirdly and not how you would have expected it to throughout the film. I believe the ending was fine, but it definitely could have been better. It honestly just added to the weird feeling you got throughout the entire movie and ended it, leaving you with that feeling when you walk out of the theater. The film has one of the best analogies to describe the entire movie in one sentence. When talking about the backrooms, Clark says, “It’s like describing a dog to someone who has never seen one and asking them to draw it.”
One of the biggest reasons I thought the movie wasn’t going to be good was that the director is 20 years old and has never directed a movie before. Kane Parsons, a YouTuber, just directed one of the best horror films of the past few years and really deserves all the credit this movie has to offer. I think many people are not realizing how good this movie actually is because of how much better “Obsession” was, which hit theaters a few weeks before “Backrooms”. “Obsession” was an instant horror classic and has redefined the horror genre. However, I think the Backrooms does the same thing, just on a much lighter scale of greatness.
From incredible cinematography to a very good story, “Backrooms” is an incredible horror film, and I can not wait to see what else Kane Parsons does in his career. With all that this movie had to offer, it never missed anything. I was very intrigued by the plot, visuals, and character development. So no, this was not just another knock-off of a horror film, but one that will be talked about for years.
“Backrooms:” ★★★★★
