YouTuber Kane Parsons (aka Kane Pixels) directs his script co-written with Will Soodik (Ash vs Evil Dead) about Clark (Chiwetel Ejiolfor), a failed architect in therapy who owns a floundering furniture store. When Clark disappears into another dimension through a portal in the rear of his store’s basement, his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) must venture into the alternate reality to save him. (110 min.)
Backrooms
What’s it rated? R
What’s it worth, Anna? Matinee
What’s it worth, Glen? Matinee
Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria,
Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande
Glen: Aside from music videos, I have little use for YouTube, and aside from the Slender Man mythos, I know next to nothing about creepypasta, so I’m probably not the target audience for this film. Apparently, the concept of “backrooms” can be traced to a Reddit post. The idea is that these rooms are psychological “in-between” zones. My interpretation is that they represent a person’s subconscious mind. So anyway, Clark retreats into his subconscious. Inside, he sees fragmented memories—a room with a pile of furniture or clothes, chairs strewn randomly, a stop sign, people who look like Picasso’s cubist period. The idea is our memories are flawed and fragmented, so our memory of a person is multidimensional and inaccurate. Likewise, the floor plan of the space seems to change. I don’t want to reveal a bunch of spoilers, but I will say, watching the film made me remember The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Dead Zone (1983), and Altered States (1980). Backrooms is interesting, thought provoking, and has a few scares, but ultimately, I found it gimmicky.
Anna: I too immediately thought of The Blair Witch Project. The first minutes of the film and the “found footage” feel unfortunately predictable and lack the novel experience that its predecessor managed to create. I like a good scare, and even more so I love suspense, but while this managed to keep me entertained, nothing about it really grabbed me. The actors were good, the setting was creepy, but there just wasn’t much beyond that. Maybe I haven’t fallen far enough into my own subconscious to have it be monumentally insightful, but it mostly feels like a trick—and not one that was particularly well executed.
Glen: Both Ejiolfor and Reinsve turned in committed performances, and I liked that we learn in flashback more about Dr. Mary Kline’s childhood and her troubled and paranoic mother. Like The Cabin in the Woods (2011), we discover there’re people watching from afar. We eventually meet one, Phil (Mark Dupluss), but if you’re hoping for answers to this mystery, there aren’t any forthcoming. There’s a little gore, and the setting is uncanny. I’m sure for a certain set of people, this confounding film will be enthralling. I’m glad I saw it, but I didn’t drive me to want to follow Kane Pixel’s YouTube channel.
Anna: I think it suffers a bit from believing it’s cleverer than it turns out to be. The backstories do help, like when we watch Mary and Clark roleplay during a therapy session as Clark and his wife. Turns out the seemingly quiet and meek Clark is harboring some dark thoughts. I wasn’t sure where this film was going all along, what the reveal would be—if there was one. Turns out it was kind of anticlimactic, although tense. I’ll give it up for the actors though; they turned out some high tension and fear. I’m sure this film will hit with a certain audience; I just don’t think that I’m it. Given the fervor that films like The Blair Witch Project had back in its heyday, maybe this is a sneaker hit that I just don’t see coming. It’s watchable, but not terribly compelling. Its visuals, for me, were the most engaging. Story wise, I wanted more.
New Times Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in June 4 – June 11, 2026.
