Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Mae Abdulbaki | Film | May 28, 2026
Backrooms is unsettling. It gripped me in ways I wasn’t immediately able to shake off. I didn’t know why at first, but the longer I sat with the film, the clearer the reason became. As a society, we talk a lot about change — in behavior, habits, lifestyle, looks, one’s feelings toward something, the list goes on. The film, written by Will Soodik and based on director Kane Parsons’s Backrooms web series, has a lot to say about the effects of change on a person’s psyche and whether or not the insistence on seeing some sort of change in someone alters them for the better. Even if it only scratches the surface of its themes, the horror film is mesmerizing, with its winding, labyrinthine set and a tension-fueled buildup toward an ending that leaves room for plenty of post-viewing discussion.
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Clark is an interesting horror character. He isn’t terrified of the titular backrooms he discovers in his furniture store, Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire; he’s deeply intrigued. A failed architect whose business and marriage have fallen apart, he largely spends his days alone in his empty store, dressing up as a pirate for his commercial and sleeping in one of the store’s beds at night. Save for his two employees, Kat (Lukita Maxwell) and Bobby (Finn Bennett), and the sessions he has with his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), Clark is stuck in his past and seemingly unwilling to move forward. That is, until he finds the puzzling, complex backrooms via a wall portal in his store.
Backrooms is effective at showing, not telling. There aren’t swaths of expository scenes and the one scene involving Clark’s backstory naturally fits into the film. Then there’s Mary’s backstory, largely shown through dreams and brief flashbacks that blend with the mystery of the backrooms. Without saying anything, we understand she has a lot of pain from her past, which is why she puts all her effort into helping others through methods she utilizes from the therapy book she published. The film leaves us with some questions, but we’re reminded that not everything needs to be answered. It’s that sense of mystery that keeps the film going, especially when the psychological deep dive comes to a halt.
The horror isn’t particularly scary so much as it is startling. It’s ultimately Clark’s epiphany — and the lead-up to it — that moves the pendulum toward genuine emotional scares. The atmosphere is intense throughout, and despite its semi-slow-moving pace, the intrigue alone will hold your interest. As a horror film, it’s not necessarily breaking any boundaries, but it’s one of the more exciting entries to the genre in a long while. Backrooms isn’t content with simple scares; what the story offers is bone-deep tension and ideas that rattle us into being present.
Ejiofor is a superb actor who brings nuance to his character’s struggles. At times, Clark is unlikable. He isn’t kind; his anger overshadows much of his personality, and his resentment is years in the making. It’s enough to distance us from him, but there’s something there — a feeling and truth surrounding accountability and change that forces us to lean closer and perhaps acknowledge that which is so rarely reckoned with. Ejiofor’s acting skills make Clark relatable in a way that can be construed as disturbing, and it’s his performance that helps pull us in.
Reinsve’s Mary doesn’t vocalize her pain and thoughts in the same way. She isn’t therapizing herself so it’s a wholly different scenario, but Reinsve does wonders with her expressive eyes, bringing us into the character’s experience while simultaneously making us feel for her. It makes the final scene all the more powerful. Mark Duplass’s character is far more elusive. His presence is tied to the backrooms themselves, but he makes the most of his handful of scenes, even if it’s only to raise a curious eyebrow.
What Parsons and his team have created with Backrooms is a visually and mentally intense horror that uses its space to maximize the eeriness already embedded in the story. While the film presents themes that it isn’t ready to tackle as thoroughly as needed, its maze of enthralling psychological horror, atmosphere, and disconcerting set production will stay with you.
