All you need to do is go to your favorite search engine, and you will know that Kane Parsons’ Backrooms is box-office gold in the US and globally. The figures showing how minimal its original production cost was and how it raked in millions are ready for consumption and reading.
Major US film analysts find it impossible to grasp its resounding success, given the reality that its director and the one responsible for creating this horror universe are only 20 years old, and critics are having a field day giving praises and raves.
Thus, I cannot help but wonder: what is it about Backrooms that remarkably resonated with the general moviegoing public?
The narrative
The plot of Backrooms centers on Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a broken, emotionally wounded, divorced furniture surplus owner whose business has seen better days. Nobody visits the store and, worse, no one buys despite massive discounts, and the cringey manner of promotion does not help boost sales or bring people into the store.
In a Twilight Zone, Believe It or Not moment, in the basement of his store, Clark discovers a physical portal that leads him into a maze of empty, yellow-colored rooms with chaotic and imposing furniture displays. This discovery makes Clark obsessed and drives him to explore this whole new world further.
When Clark vanishes, his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), ventures to the store with a mission to rescue her client. As she accidentally discovers the yellow-colored backrooms, Dr. Kline is forced into a showdown with her own repressed emotional baggage.
As their personal masks are peeled off in the Backrooms, Clark and Dr. Mary’s resolve for survival — to accept the inevitable and confront their fears and vulnerabilities — becomes tangled with the Backrooms’ conviction, recreation, and ambition.
20
Widely known as Kane Pixels, this young man of 20, born under the astrological sign of Gemini, Parsons made pop history by becoming the youngest director signed by the indie studio A24 to adapt his viral YouTube analog series into a major motion picture.
With his soft curls and cherubic face, Parsons is, without a doubt, eye candy, and the terms “heartthrob” and “matinee idol” come naturally in his territory. He has become a director boy wonder of sorts, and this success only means there is no other way for him but up, up and away in the world of Hollywood.
What I liked
The main characters, Ejiofor and Reinsve — their acting and the truth they brought to Clark and Dr. Mary — stand out. They were able to convey a real sense of fear, brokenness and helplessness their cries for help muted, never fully expressed nor heard, and a vulnerability that made you feel all their internal pain, confusion and suffering.
The terror in the movie is provided by the expansive backrooms, with all their clutter and disarray, the narrow spaces, doors, holes, and windows that bring the characters into other menacing areas, creating not only a sense of unease but also danger.
Its biggest plus is its ability to maximize the fear of the unknown, heightened by the fact that the strong yellow lights and walls create urgency — where tragedy is not hidden in darkness but in everything bright and shiny.
For breaking new ground and making new rules in the modern horror genre; transforming a YouTube series into a cinematic wonder; showcasing the strong acting of its leads and, yes, its complicated narrative — and proving that youth is not wasted on the young with 20-year-old director Kane Parsons — we now know why Backrooms deserves all its box-office and critical glory.
Backrooms, distributed locally by CreaZion Studios International, is currently showing in limited cinemas.