A24‘s Backrooms is now playing in theaters, and there are a few things audiences might want to know about the brand new horror movie before watching it in theaters.
Backrooms is directed by Kane Parsons from a script written by Will Soodik. The cast of the movie is led by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, and also stars Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lucite Maxwell, and Avan Jogia. The script comes from Will Soodik and Roberto Patino, while James Wan and Michael Clear are producing for Wan’s Atomic Monster.
“A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom,” reads the brief and mysterious logline for the movie.
What should the Backrooms audiences know about the movie beforehand?
The biggest thing to know about Backrooms is that the movie isn’t super big on jump scares, so don’t expect too many. The movie, much like the horror series Kane Parsons made before the movie, utilizes a lot of found footage POV, which showcases characters moving through the eerie rooms in mostly silence. As a result, the movie doesn’t feature a ton of jump scares, but instead relies much more on tone and building a terrifying atmosphere, which it does effectively.
The movie also employs a handful of well-timed jump scares, but relies much more on tone than anything else. Ultimately, the concept of the Backrooms is one that will either scare you or not from the get-go. If you find the concept of liminal spaces and “clipped in” objects a bit unnerving, then the bizarre and uncanny imagery will likely disturb. If not, the way Parsons presents most of it is still unnerving throughout, but not inherently terrifying.
On top of that, audiences might feel they need to see much of Parsons’ past Backrooms work to enjoy this. Thankfully, that’s not the case. While knowing more of the lore of Parsons’ Backrooms series would certainly make for a more engaging watch, the movie does a great job explaining what the mysterious rooms are, the organization studying them, and more all in its runtime.
