Director Backrooms and the main idea maker, Kane Parsons, is only 20 years old, born on June 18, 2005 and will therefore soon be 21 years old. For such a young man to direct a film of this magnitude, with stupid actors and huge sets, is amazing in itself.
That this film is now one of the most talked about in the world and that it is also praised by the majority of critics is no less amazing. That the picture is by a so-called “YouTuber”, i.e. a young man who has made a breakthrough with his videos on YouTube, is such a sign of the times.
A whole generation has now come of age who do not remember the times when there was no YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and whatever it’s all called. A whole generation that has grown up with very short videos on the Internet and on phones, videos that catch on need the attention of the viewer from the first seconds, otherwise the viewer will just skip to the next one.
The above is middle-aged and therefore needs explanations from his children when it comes to strange phenomena such as “backrooms” and “creepypasta”. Now older readers will understandably wonder. What phenomena are these?
Backrooms started out on the aforementioned Parsons’ YouTube channel as a series of short videos (notice I don’t use the ancient word “video” because now everything is more or less digital) based on “creepypasta”.
Creepypasta is not a type of pasta, as one might think, but a certain type of “Internet folklore or horror stories that spread on the Internet by people copying and pasting them”, so I will now quote the answer of AI to a review question on that topic, and the name is derived from the well-known computer command “copy-paste”, ie. to copy and paste, which some sprelligosi seems to have turned into creepypasta, i.e. “spooky pasta”. Those who need to digest this information should perhaps grab a cup of coffee now and then get back to reading.
Penetrates through
As the name suggests, this film deals with so-called “backrooms”, backrooms in English, an endless maze with yellow walls, office furniture scattered around and more often than not, those spaces are illogically shaped.
Into this creepy and desolate wonderland enters the main protagonist, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who is a drunken owner of a demonic hardware store in the United States in the 10s of the last century, judging by the fashion, furniture and clothes worn by people in the film.
By sheer chance, Clark discovers a mysterious door in the store’s basement, a door he slips through as if it were not solid. Clark wanders in amazement through the endless corridors of the world he has now entered and sees many strange things there, including furniture that is stuck or sunk into the floor and tiny doors that lead into more strange spaces. Clark tells his psychologist, Mary (Renate Reinsve), about his discovery, but Mary of course thinks it’s a delusion, imagination or some kind of mental illness.
Clark gradually loses his grip on reality, and when Mary discovers the back rooms herself, the story changes quite a bit, to say the least. The question arises whether this is all Clark’s mind, a trick or a real side world? What is really going on? Does it really matter at the end of the day?
Instills fear
There are no clear answers to these questions, which is actually the film’s strength. In many ways, it reminds me of David Lynch’s work, especially the episodes Twin Peaksand other works in a surreal spirit, but no less video games where the player plays through the eyes of the character, and such games are countless. The appearance of the film and set design also reminds a lot of video games and often older games, which strengthens the connection with the time in which the film is set. And all this springs from the head of the twenty-something director who grew up with video games and YouTube videos.
The world of the film is creepy, to say the least, and it’s no surprise that the film is forbidden to viewers under the age of 16. It is not caused by bloodshed and violence, although there is some of that as well, but primarily by the frightening atmosphere in the film and what is not seen. Around the corner there is almost always something, you can hear it from the sounds alone, which are sometimes more terrible than what is later revealed.
A few strange creatures come into play that might as well have jumped out of a painting by some Cubist, and one of them is more horrifying than the other, to say the least. Best not to say more because sight is richer in history. The sound processing in the film supports the horror well, it inspires fear and the original music is also effective and scary and supports the narrative well. It all clicks together into an impressive whole, creating an eerie world where nothing seems logical, beautiful or as it should be.
Deserves all the praise
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve are particularly believable in their roles, which have undoubtedly been challenging. Overwhelmed with fear for a large part of the film and more often than not, surprised. I didn’t expect anything else from these quality actors, and others in smaller roles are also good.
There seems to have been a lot of anticipation for this film, especially among younger people who are familiar with the world of back rooms and “creepypasta”. We “old people”, the parents or grandparents, try our best to understand what is happening, what appeals to today’s youth and why. A picture like this is a big step in that direction.
Finally, and hopefully without spoilers, readers are warned that the film may be nauseating due to the cinematography in the scenes that feature footage from an old-fashioned video camera. The camera shakes and vibrates in them, and the author sometimes had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to ward off the nausea.
Of course, movies like this are not for everyone and it is understandable that some people choose not to watch them. But that doesn’t make them any less of a work of art, and this one deserves all the praise it’s already received.
