Backrooms Review: Kane Parsons Turns Internet Liminal Horror Into an A24 Nightmare

Backrooms Review: What the Movie Is About

If you have ever stared at a photo of damp carpet, buzzing fluorescent lights, and endless yellow rooms with no exit, you already understand the appeal. Now that internet nightmare has a feature film, and this Backrooms review breaks down whether the big-screen version delivers. The short answer: mostly yes, with caveats worth knowing before you buy a ticket.

The premise is deliberately simple. A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom, and the people who step through it find themselves inside a space that does not obey normal rules. The film follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mary (Renate Reinsve) as they try to make sense of a place that seems to be watching them back.

That simplicity is the point. Rather than explaining the mythology, the movie leans into dread, texture, and sound design. It is a haunted-house story where the house has no walls you can trust.

The Core Premise at a Glance

• The hook: A doorway in an ordinary basement opens into an impossible, liminal space.
• The genre blend: Horror first, with sci-fi, mystery, thriller, and fantasy elements layered on top.
• The tone: Slow-burn, atmospheric, and deliberately short on traditional explanations.
• The source: A concept that grew out of internet creepypasta and found-footage shorts before becoming a studio release.

Backrooms Review Scores at a Glance

Numbers only tell part of the story, but they tell it fast. As of late September 2026, the film sits comfortably in "fresh" territory with critics while audiences are noticeably more divided. That gap is the single most useful thing to know before you press play.

The 12-point spread between critics and general viewers is typical for slow-burn horror. Reviewers tend to reward craft and atmosphere; audiences often want resolution. If you need answers by the credits, this is the film that will frustrate you.

Key Production Details

Cast, Crew, and the Director Behind the Backrooms

The biggest story here is the person in the director's chair. Kane Parsons built a following with found-footage shorts that translated the Backrooms concept into something genuinely unsettling, and this feature marks his studio debut. The critical consensus praises it as a "startlingly assured" first outing, which is a remarkable thing to say about a director working with a meme-born premise.

He is backed by an unusually deep producing bench, including James Wan, Shawn Levy, Oz Perkins, and teams from Atomic Monster, 21 Laps Entertainment, and Chernin Entertainment. That combination — internet-native creator plus established horror infrastructure — is exactly why the film looks and sounds more expensive than its concept suggests.

Who Plays Who

Ejiofor and Reinsve carry most of the emotional weight, and even critics who disliked the film tended to single out the performances as the strongest element. Duplass brings a different, looser energy that keeps the middle act from becoming monotone.

What Critics and Audiences Are Saying

This is where any honest Backrooms review has to acknowledge the split. The critics' consensus calls the film mesmerizing and terrifying in the same breath, praising how it bends liminal internet imagery into a coherent horror movie. Individual reviews are more mixed.

That last point is the smartest reading of the film. The Backrooms are not just a maze — they are a metaphor for compulsive, self-destructive curiosity, and the movie knows it.

Community Reports From Audiences

Audience reactions, labeled here as community reports, cluster around two camps.

• Enthusiasts: Several verified viewers described loving it intensely, praising the "liminal horror" and the Jungian undertones, and asking for a sequel.
• Puzzle-solvers: Others said the film had them questioning everything and highlighted a strong plot twist.
• Frustrated viewers: A recurring complaint is that the setup is excellent but the ending does not land — one viewer noted it "started off really well" but felt the director did not know how to finish.

If you enjoy ambiguity, you will likely land in the first two camps. If you want closure, you will land in the third.

Is Backrooms Worth Watching? A Practical Verdict

Yes, with the right expectations. This is a mood piece, not a puzzle box with a solution. The film works best when you stop waiting for an explanation and start paying attention to sound, framing, and the way ordinary spaces become hostile.

Commercially, the bet paid off. Rotten Tomatoes reported that the movie shattered expectations with an $81.5 million opening weekend — a strong result for an R-rated, director-driven horror film. That performance makes a follow-up genuinely plausible, and several audience members are already asking for one.

Where to Watch and How to Watch It

The film is available to stream with a subscription on HBO Max, and it can be rented or purchased digitally through Fandango. You can also check the official Backrooms page on Rotten Tomatoes for current reviews, trailers, and streaming availability.

A few practical tips to get the most out of it:

• Use headphones or a real sound system. The Dolby Atmos mix does enormous work, and the quiet passages matter as much as the loud ones.
• Watch it at night, undistracted. The film depends on sustained unease, and phone breaks kill that.
• Skip the plot summaries beforehand. The less you know about specific rooms, the better the experience.
• Give it 24 hours before judging the ending. Ambiguous horror often improves on reflection.

The Bottom Line

As a piece of filmmaking, it is confident, stylish, and genuinely unnerving. As a story, it is deliberately unresolved, and that choice will divide viewers exactly as the scores suggest. For a first feature built on a concept that started as an internet joke, that is an impressive outcome — and it is the reason this Backrooms review lands on the positive side of the ledger.

FAQ: Backrooms Review Questions Answered

Is Backrooms a good movie?

Critics say yes: it holds an 86% Tomatometer score across 311 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10. Audiences are warmer than lukewarm but more divided at 74% on the Popcornmeter. Most viewers agree the atmosphere and performances are strong; disagreement centers on the ending.

Do I need to know the internet Backrooms lore before watching?

No. The film explains only what it needs to and treats the setting as a fresh discovery. Familiarity with liminal-space imagery adds texture, but nothing in the plot requires prior knowledge of the online mythology.

Is Backrooms scary?

It is unsettling rather than jump-scare driven. The horror comes from sound design, endless repetition, and the growing sense that the space is responding to the characters. One critic warned it takes a strong stomach for what is vividly portrayed on screen.

How long is Backrooms, and where can I watch it?

It runs 1 hour 50 minutes and is rated R. It is streaming with a subscription on HBO Max and available to rent or buy on Fandango. That makes it easy to sample if you are unsure whether this particular Backrooms review convinced you.