You feel like you never left: Backrooms review

Maybe None of Us Know What We Just SawWe just saw The Backrooms, and I’m left sort of speechless.

As the credits rolled, I found myself paying less attention to the screen and more attention to the people around me. The entire theater just sat there. Nobody rushed for the exits. Nobody immediately grabbed their phones. People looked like they were trying to process what they had just experienced.

Let me first say that I saw this at a relatively packed theater on a Sunday afternoon. Kids, adults, entire families. People who easily could have gone to see The Mandalorian instead chose The Backrooms, and that alone showcases why this movie is on track to make more than $80 million this weekend.

Kane Parsons, you did a heck of a job.

One debate we have seen all over social media and TikTok is whether you need to watch the original YouTube shorts or know all of the Backrooms lore before seeing this movie. I don’t think you do.

If you’ve seen the shorts, you’ll probably catch some Easter eggs and appreciate certain moments a little more. But prior knowledge is not required to enjoy what was created here.

At the same time, even if you know the lore, you still may not completely understand what you’ve just watched.

Here’s my interpretation.

We create the Backrooms.

The movie seems to be about how we create the insanity inside our own minds. It’s about loops and about obsession. It’s about continually wandering into places we know we shouldn’t go.

There were several scenes that genuinely left me anxious. Not jump scares, either. Those weren’t the moments that got me.

One scene involving the giant pirate-like flesh eater with its impossibly long arms reaching toward Dr Mary Kline felt claustrophobic and unsettling. Other scenes used distorted faces, fuzzy imagery, and shaky camera work that made you question whether your own eyes were playing tricks on you.

The movie was effective in a very unusual way.

It made me despise the Backrooms while simultaneously wanting to stay there.

I can’t really explain it any better than that.

Just like the characters who repeatedly venture deeper into the Backrooms because they need to discover what’s around the next corner, I think that’s exactly how many people in the audience felt. The place is terrifying, but it’s also impossible to stop exploring.

The found footage elements and flashbacks were probably the most effective use of found footage since The Blair Witch Project. The acting was so convincing that you almost leave the theater wondering if the Backrooms could somehow be real.

On my way to the bathroom after the movie, part of me felt like I might accidentally slip through a wall.

What fascinated me most, though, was the audience.

This was a packed house. The kind of crowd that twenty years ago would have definitely filled a theater for a major Star Wars release.

The times have changed.

Parents who brought younger children looked somewhat bewildered, as if they had just spent two hours watching something they didn’t fully understand. The younger kids seemed entertained but weren’t entirely sure what they had seen either ..

There were a lot of teenagers in the audience. I expected talking and cell phones lighting up.

There was none of that.

During several scenes, you could hear a pin drop.

There were also moments where the audience laughed. Not because the movie became a comedy, but because some situations were so strange and uncomfortable that people almost laughed in spite of themselves. The humor never undercut the horror. The movie maintained its credibility as a genuinely unsettling experience from beginning to end.

I’ve seen comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock, and honestly, that’s fair.

For people who don’t understand the movie, don’t want to understand the movie, or simply aren’t interested in trying to interpret it, that’s fine. They probably won’t watch it again.

Others may find themselves returning to the theater more than once.

There’s something about that buzzing yellow aura, those endless hallways, and the stained carpets that almost makes you feel like you can smell them.

The long-term success of this movie will depend on word of mouth. The initial excitement was clearly there this weekend. Fans, parents, teenagers, and entire families came out in force.

I’ve seen some people absolutely hate it.

I’ve seen others love it.

Put me firmly in the camp that loved it.

I honestly think it’s one of the greatest horror films I’ve ever seen.

Not because it was the scariest or had the best monsters with a big budget, but because it was more than a movie.

It was an experience.

For two hours, you felt like you were there.

Kane Parsons did an amazing job.

And perhaps the best review I heard wasn’t inside the theater at all.

It happened afterward in the parking lot.

On a bright, sunny early summer afternoon, families were heading back to their cars. Younger movie goers were talking about their favorite scenes. Parents were looking at each other with confused expressions.

Then one grandmother, walking away from the theater with her family, finally broke the silence.

“I’ll call you later. I need to take a break because I don’t know what the f*** that just was.”