Title – Backrooms (2026)

Director – Kane Parsons (feature debut)

Cast – Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell

Plot – Lonely retail worker and struggling divorcee Clark (Ejiofor) discovers a hidden dimension/reality in the ground level of his workplace that leads him and his therapist Mary (Reinsve) on a journey into the unknown.  

“I found something…”

Review by Eddie on 16/06/2025

Joining its fellow low-budget horror blood brother Obsession recently in dominating global box-office booths and winning over critics and audiences of all shapes and sizes, YouTube sensation Kane Parsons directional debut of his Backrooms creation is another win for genre fans seeking out original and imaginative filmmaking, from what is likely to become Hollywood’s go to when it comes to unearthing the next generation of creative voices.

Starting life back in 2019 via a viral 4chan post before Parsons uploaded an original short through YouTube in 2022, Backrooms was birthed via the most unconventional of ways, with the Parsons a mere 19 years of age when he started work on his debut outing that was the brainchild of production company A24, who tapped the young talent on the shoulder with a bold vision to bring Backrooms into the mainstream movie going market.

A film that will mean more to those that have long dived into the lore and been fans of Backrooms over the past few years, Parsons and his screenwriting partner Will Soodik do a quality job at ensuring this is a film accessible for those (like myself) who were heading into this much anticipated outing with no preconceptions of what might be install other than some otherworldly eeriness that comes courtesy of some seagull, office furniture and a peg-legged monstrosity.

One of the year’s most expertly designed films from a production standpoint, from the epic and seemingly endless sprawl of the sparse world Chiwetel Ejiofor’s lonely retail worker Clark and Renate Reinsve’s determined therapist Mary find themselves exploring, Parsons and Edo Van Breemen nerve wrangling score and the sound departments work on breathing life into Backrooms via the mere turning of a doorknob or hallway shuffle, there’s a lot to get excited about cinematically here, even if there’s an overriding sense that the film ebbs and flows between great and rather mid-tier on multiple occasions.

At its best early on thanks to a fantastically staged set-up and mystery and working its way to a mid-point culmination that peaks as Clark enlists the support of Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell unsuspecting couple, there’s some brilliant set-piece work staged by Parsons here, with the films sparing use of Blair Witch like POV video recording expertly done in particular, but Backrooms doesn’t sustain its momentum throughout its close to two hour running time with the film suffering more the less its secrets and tricks are hidden from us.

It’s unlikely anyone was heading into Backrooms to be gifted a narrative masterpiece however and while walking to the beat of its own drum and creating one of the horror genres most unique settings and worlds we’ve seen in years, Backrooms succeeds in providing us with an energetically created experience that is akin to being thrown into a cinematic escape room that you can’t shy away from despite the ominous dread that seeps throughout.

Final Say –

An aesthetic delight that relishes in its exploration of Kane Parson’s mind-melting creation, Backrooms may not be the scariest movie of 2026 or the most fully formed but it’s one of the year’s most purely enjoyable cinematic experiences and a memorable calling card for one of Hollywood’s newest rising stars.

3 1/2 Xmas trees out of 5