Backrooms: The BRWC Review. By Jake Peffer.
Backrooms is the latest horror movie to come from A24. After becoming an internet sensation through a thread on the website 4chan, up and coming director Kane Parsons created a series on Youtube of the same name. Impressed with the web series, A24 partnered with Chernin Entertainment, Atomic Monster and 21 Laps Entertainment for a joint production based on Parsons’ work. Keeping Parsons on as director, he is now A24’s youngest feature director.
The movie centers on Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a furniture store owner who is just trying to get by. Recently, he was kicked out by his wife after too many late nights coming home and having one too many to drink. Clark is just trying to keep his business afloat while simultaneously trying to make enough money to put his wife through law school. He visits a therapist from time to time named Mary (Renate Reinsve) to discuss the issues with his wife as well as the issues he has at his work. One night Clark discovers a secret entrance into a dimension beyond reality located in the walls of his furniture store. This causes Clark to explore this new dimension as it seems to be a never-ending space of empty rooms and randomness. As Clark further explores this dimension things start to become much more dangerous than they seemed.
It has been quite some time since a truly frightening and scary horror movie has been released. Backrooms takes things to new a level in terms of how frightening it is throughout its runtime. Kane Parsons is able to build so much tension and just the right amount of atmosphere to really mess with the audience’s mind. There is a constant sense of dread as the movie progresses along that makes things much scarier. The cinematography and the way Parsons shoots certain scenes, especially the ones that use more of a found footage approach, add a different element to the horrors that await the characters.
So much is put into building this world and seeing the execution of it on screen is nothing short of amazing. The set designs are so bleak and unnerving. They are taken right out of the pictures that have been spread online as well as Parsons’ web series. Little details here and there make certain things stand out and the imagery throughout is such a sight to look at. All the makeup and effects work well and add even more character to the movie.
As far as the cast goes the movie mostly focuses on Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. Ejiofor gives one of the best performances of his career. His performance is so haunting at times, and he plays it in a way that makes the audience go back and forth on whether they should be rooting for him or not. Reinsve is a great as well in her performance. Her character gets a little more back story as the movie shows that she had a traumatic childhood and Reinsve does a great job at giving her character a lot of depth. The rest of the cast here is fine; however, they aren’t given much to do. Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell all have notable roles and do well with what they are given.
If there is a weak spot here it comes around in the third act. Once the third act starts things change a bit and the movie starts to reveal some things to the audience. This somewhat slows down the pace and doesn’t feel as strong as the first two acts. Thankfully, things do come back around, and it ends on a rather chilling note. There are a few things here and there throughout that could have been fleshed out more but ultimately, the movie succeeds where it needs to.
In the end, Backrooms is a success all around. It is one of the most frightening horror movies to come out in quite some time and it builds a sense of dread that crawls under the skin. Kane Parsons has put together a masterful directorial debut, and it should not go unseen.
Grade: B+
