Review: 'Backrooms'
The A24 release is topping the box office as it mines new online ground with first-time director Kane Parsons at the helm.
At 20 years old, Kane Parsons has become the youngest director in history to have a film top the domestic box office with A24’s Backrooms. The film is based on a creepypasta—short user-generated horror stories that are shared online. This isn’t the first time that a creepypasta has been adapted for the big screen—Slenderman came out in 2018 and was a commercial and critical flop, but Backrooms is the first successful adaptation.
After seeing a screenshot of the backrooms creepypasta on Instagram, Parsons was inspired to create a found-footage-style animated short, uploading it to his YouTube channel in 2022. The web series quickly became a success, leading Parsons to direct the feature-length version.
The film adaptation of Backrooms centers on Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a middle-aged alcoholic in therapy after his divorce, and Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), his therapist. After failing as an architect, Clark is the owner of a furniture business, where he works and lives. One night, he finds a portal to the backrooms in the store’s basement.
A24’s Backrooms is an effective horror film with some striking imagery, charming sets, and beautiful cinematography. But the film is at its weakest when it attempts to explain or justify the existence of the backrooms, instead of just letting characters explore the liminal space. The characters are hollow and one-dimensional; the fresh-faced Parsons is out of his depth writing characters twice his age, even with Will Soodik as a co-writer. Yet, Backrooms proves that young directors are capable of taking film in a new direction that appeals to young audiences while producing hits.
