Have you ever found yourself in an empty hallway that seems to go on forever, or in a deserted room that just seems “off”?
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Chances are you’ve already encountered these transitional spaces: a hotel hallway, an airport boarding gate, or a formal office hallway. Severanceboth familiar and distressing. It’s as if time was suspended there, in a place not dehumanizing enough to be truly horrifying, but not banal enough to be reassuring.
But have you ever “noclipped” out of reality to find yourself in a dull, endless interior, where evil can lurk around every corner? Let’s hope not.
This is the misadventure that happens to Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a failed architect and depressed owner of a furniture store, protagonist of Backroomsthe debut feature film from 20-year-old YouTuber turned filmmaker Kane Parsons. He discovers an invisible portal inside Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, which leads him to an extradimensional space with yellowish walls, buzzing lights and infinite levels.
When Clark disappears into this maze ofliminal spacesboth banal and bizarre, his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) goes looking for him and also ends up passing through the other side of the looking glass… She will quickly discover that we are far from Wonderland.
Box office numbers are never a guarantee of quality, but there is every reason to note and celebrate the surprise success of Backrooms. Parsons’ film opened in the United States with $81 million in revenue (on a budget of $10 million), becoming the biggest release in the history of the A24 studio. It also makes Parsons the youngest director to top the American box office.
We can see the effect of an audience already won over, since Backrooms was born as a popular internet folklore from a creepypasta posted on 4chan (Parsons then made a web series exploring this urban legend, which has had 200 million views since 2022). But the main reason for the 2026 phenomenon is undoubtedly the extremely positive word of mouth.
Indeed, Backrooms has everything going for him. Palpable anxiety. Surrealist nightmare logic. Solid performances from Ejiofor and everyone’s favorite Norwegian. A chilling work of decor, supported by an equally disturbing score. A pinch of Lovecraftian terror and body horror that will make you squirm in your seat. Scares that nestle in the corner of your vision. Echoes in Projet Blair Witch and à Cubereinforced by VHS-style found footage sequences and a setting set in the 1990s. And a fine understanding of the strange metaphorical correlation between architecture and neural networks, which Shining operated so well. The complete package.
It’s a slow-burn extension of the director’s web series, which not only respects the already established canon, but also allows those unfamiliar with the viral myth to enter its disturbing world without having to do their homework first. The viewer is immersed in a universe both vast and claustrophobic, which takes advantage of the instinctive thrill caused by an object placed where it should not be, and of the deeply creepy thing about coming across a familiar element in a place where it has nothing to do with it. do.
Beyond his immediate power of suggestion, Parsons had the intelligence to make Backrooms the story of two lonely souls: a frustrated divorcee, undermined by unresolved anger, and a psychologist struggling with her own childhood trauma, who strives to help others. The confusing world of Backrooms reflects their inner torments and becomes the materialization of these psychological loops that we all create ourselves. They trap us and push us to constantly reproduce the same shaky solutions.
With this in mind, Parsons makes his first film not so much a story of survival in a universe reminiscent of Annihilationonly a quest to break patterns of behavior. How ? By understanding that the most formidable threat always comes from within.
As chilling and captivating as it is Backroomsand as gratifying as the buzz surrounding it is, the film is not without its flaws. Seasoned horror movie fans may be less impressed than a younger generation in search of its own Blair Witchand the last act will undoubtedly divide the audience. Above all, it reveals the weaknesses of the script, notably some shaky dialogues. Without forgetting the veneer of MKUltra mythology, brought by the mysterious Async Research Institute, which threatens the simplicity The Fourth Dimension of a bare but fertile concept.
That said, the final plan will give rise to many theories about the nature of this titular hell. Conscious monstrosities creating universes, or projection of the subconscious? Parsons’ choice to suggest and sharpen curiosity rather than explaining everything head-on has its virtues.
We owe all this to a 20-year-old prodigy who, from a simple image posted online, built a world, confidently expanded it from YouTube to Hollywood, and delivered the horror film to beat when 2026 bows out…
What were you doing at his age?
Perhaps it’s best not to think about it too much… Horrors could be hiding there too.
Backrooms is now in theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom, and continues its release in Europe throughout the month.
