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A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go with my (then) 15 year old brother to see the new Backrooms movie. We went for a 1:00pm Labour Day screening at Movietowne. The theatre was very quiet, with only the two of us and some small groups of teenagers and adults scattered around the place.
The story centers around two main figures, Clark and Mary.
Clark is a down-on-his-luck furniture salesman struggling to succeed in life. He's going to therapy with Mary to get over his frustrations from a previous marriage. He failed to achieve his dreams of becoming an architect. His furniture store barely sees any customers, and his humiliating "pirate" rebrand, which involves him prancing around in a cheap pirate costume in commercials, is barely helping his business. He doesn't even have a real house, instead having to live in his own store, sleeping on the same beds he struggles to sell.
Mary, on the other hand, is a successful therapist with a bestselling self-help book. But, she still struggles with her own troubles that she refuses to talk about.....
One night, Clark grows so fed up with the awful electrical problems in his store that he goes down to the basement to investigate the issue himself. It's only in the darkness below the store that he discovers something unusual. Light coming from a thin crack in the walls that wasn't there before.
He decides to examine it further, only to phase out of reality and into the Backrooms, a seemingly endless expanse of empty, warped, office-like spaces. He quickly becomes fascinated by the rooms, obsessively mapping out everywhere he goes.
And then everything goes to hell from there.
The simple yet effective story is carried by Clark and Mary's chaotic dynamic. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve both did such an amazing job playing these characters! It's equally horrifying and entertaining to see them spiral into madness when dealing with the existential crisis the Backrooms forces them into. Clark's employees, Kat (Lukita Maxwell) and Bobby (Finn Bennett), are also equally lovable and memorable characters, despite having less screen time. And Bobby's "Stop Apartheid" crop top?
*Chef's Kiss*
The plot itself admittedly starts a bit slow, probably taking about 20 - 25 minutes for someone to actually enter the Backrooms. This may understandably be a point of criticism for some people who don't like slow beginnings in media. I personally had no gripe with it, as it does do a good job at establishing the setting and characters (as well as hinting at certain things).
There's an uncanny, dream-like look and feel to the whole film. The impossible, nonsensial distorted passways of the rooms (which were an real, physical set!). The constant flashbacks between Mary's past and present meshing with eachother. The soundtrack was especially good! I was pleasantly surprised to hear some of Parsons' own music in it. Everything perfectly captures the creepy essence of liminal spaces in a way that feels fresh and unique.
The lingering shots of the sky are especially striking. I love the way the sky is constantly teased through fake windows and plastered wallpapers throughout the film. As though the sky never truly existed. As though the concept of "outside" never truly existed. I actually felt unsettled everytime the sky popped up in any manner in the film. The way the movie weaponises a human symbol of freedom against the viewer is very impactful.
I left the theatre feeling pretty rejuvenated, actually! Inspired to draw something. It's not often that a movie has that effect on me. The direction of the movie was pretty interesting, and quite different from what a lot of people seem to know the Backrooms concept as nowadays. Even my brother seemed to be taken back by the approach, as all he could say when I asked him for his thoughts on it was, word-for-word: "I don't know."
There's no one billion levels with loud, scary monsters, no almond water, no needlessly complicated game-like rules or lore, no Roblox fangames, etc. This approach is like a reset. A return to the simple, psychological horror roots of the original 4chan post that seem to have been forgotten until now.
And honestly? I'm very happy it went this route! It easily could have been another Minecraft Movie, being either absolute dogshit at worse or "so bad it's good" at best. But, they went with a more restrained approach that ultimately led to a more mature film. One which I believe will age very well.
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