--- title: "Backrooms" year: 2026 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/backrooms" fi1m_id: "backrooms" imdb_id: "tt26657236" tmdb_id: 1083381 wikidata_id: "Q125131076" fi1m_score: 64 critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 10 published: "2026-09-09" updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:43.129624+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Backrooms (2026) Directed by Kane Parsons · 1h 51m · MPA R · Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction ## Identity Backrooms - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/backrooms - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** backrooms - **IMDb ID:** tt26657236 - **TMDB ID:** 1083381 - **Wikidata ID:** Q125131076 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26657236/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1083381, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125131076 **Fi1m score: 64** · Critics 72 from 10 reviews *In a sentence:* An empty office that goes on for ever, frightening right up to the moment it starts explaining itself > For an hour, the hum of the strip lights and the damp yellow carpet of Kane Parsons’ maze are as frightening as anything we have sat through in some time. Then the script starts explaining, and the fear drains out room by room. ## Synopsis Kane Parsons expands his YouTube series into a feature. The Backrooms are an endless run of empty office rooms, yellow wallpaper and humming strip lights, into which people fall out of the ordinary world and cannot find their way back. Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is one of them, a man trying to work out why he is there. Mary (Renate Reinsve) is another, and the film keeps returning to her childhood, with Ember Ambrose as her younger self. Bobby (Finn Bennett) and Kat (Lukita Maxwell) record what they find on a handheld camera, so part of the film is seen through their lens. Mark Duplass plays Phil, and Avan Jogia appears as Naren Warne. The script is by Will Soodik. ## Review The Backrooms started as a photograph and a caption. An empty office, yellow wallpaper, strip lights humming, and the suggestion that if you fell out of the world in the wrong place you would land there and walk for ever. Kane Parsons made a series of short films about it for YouTube, and he has now made a feature, from a script by Will Soodik, that tries to give the place people and a story. The story is about memory, and about people who have stopped moving. For an hour it frightened us properly. Then it starts explaining itself, and the fear goes out of it a little with every answer. The first hour is Danny Vermette’s. He builds the rooms so they repeat with small wrong differences: a doorway an inch too low, a carpet that is damp in one corner for no reason, a light that flickers once and then does not. Jeremy Cox shoots all of it flat and bright, with no shadows to hide anything in, and it turns out that is worse. The found-footage passages, shot on what looks like a cheap camcorder, are grainy and jittery and cut against clean, still shots of the same corridors, so we are never sure which version to trust. Edo van Breemen and Parsons build the score out of the hum of the lights, and for long stretches we could not tell where the strip lights stopped and the music began. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Clark as a man who has decided the place is a punishment and is trying to work out what for. He is heavy and still, and he does the film’s best acting with his shoulders. Renate Reinsve’s Mary is his opposite, brittle and quick and unable to stand in one spot, and the film keeps flashing back to her as a child (Ember Ambrose) in a house that is not quite the one she remembers. There is one effects shot in those flashbacks, a room rearranging itself as she tries to recall it, that is the cleverest thing in the picture. Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell, as Bobby and Kat, carry the camcorder half and behave like people who grew up filming everything, which is the point. Mark Duplass turns up as Phil and is, briefly, a relief. We should own our reaction. About forty minutes in there is a stretch in which nothing happens except a corridor and the hum, and Greg Ng holds the shot well past the point of comfort, and we found we had stopped breathing properly. Nothing was in the corridor. That was the problem. The film understands, for a while, that an empty room is worse than anything you could put in it. Then it stops trusting that. The second half of Soodik’s script sets out the rules of the place, and each answer makes the rooms a little smaller. Bobby and Kat never become more than the people holding the camera. The two ways of seeing, camcorder and clean, are cut together faster and faster as the film goes on, and the faster Ng cuts the less frightened we were, because dread needs time and the film had started to hurry. Robert Bobroczkyi, credited as Pirate Clark, is effective at the far end of a corridor and rather less so when the film brings him close and asks us to have a look. The genre has been here before and knew what to leave out. [*The Blair Witch Project*](https://film.one/film/the-blair-witch-project) (1999) pointed a camera at a dark wood and told us nothing. [*Cube*](https://film.one/film/cube) (1997) put six people in a maze and let them argue instead of explaining. Parsons’ own shorts worked because they never said what the place was. The feature cannot resist, and the split among critics comes down to that. Most have been warmer than we are, and we understand why, because the first hour earns it. The ones who found the second half thin have a point too. See it in a cinema if you can, where the hum comes from all round you and the yellow fills the wall. At home it becomes a film about people lost in a building, which is a smaller thing. It runs 111 minutes and carries a 15, and the certificate is right: there is hardly any blood, and a great deal of waiting. *Fi1m score 64, published 9 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics come away unsettled, and most mean it as praise. The admiration clusters on the look of the film: the endless fluorescent-yellow corridors, the oppressive production design and lighting, and the way it sits in dread rather than reaching for conventional scares. Several reviews are struck that a 20-year-old first-time director handles all this with such control, and The Guardian also singles out Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. The reservations cluster on length. The doubters grant that the atmosphere works in stretches but argue that an idea built for short online videos strains under a full feature: The New York Times finds over-explanation breaks the spell, Vulture calls the characters thin and the structure inept, and Den of Geek says it runs in circles. The spread is wide, from outright admiration to a shrug. Nobody disputes that the images are eerie. The argument is over whether eerie is enough to carry a whole film. ## Straight answers **Is Backrooms worth watching?** *Backrooms* is worth watching for horror viewers who can sit through long stretches of nothing, and we scored it 64. The first hour of humming strip lights and repeating yellow rooms frightened us properly; the second half explains the place and loses much of the dread. See it in a cinema if you can. **How long is Backrooms, and what is it rated?** *Backrooms* runs 1h 51m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a horror and mystery film. **Where can I watch Backrooms in the US?** *Backrooms* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $7.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Backrooms, and is it suitable for children?** *Backrooms* carries a 15 in the UK and an R in the US, and the certificate is right: there is hardly any blood and a great deal of waiting. The fear comes from empty corridors held on screen too long rather than from gore, so it is not for children, but the squeamish will cope better than the impatient. **How does Backrooms compare to Cube?** *Backrooms* is the more frightening film for its first hour, but [*Cube*](https://film.one/film/cube) is the more disciplined one from start to finish. Natali's maze lets its six strangers argue and never explains itself, while Parsons' feature sets out the rules of its rooms and shrinks as it does. Choose *Backrooms* for atmosphere and *Cube* for a puzzle that holds. **What should I watch after Backrooms?** After *Backrooms*, try [*Cube*](https://film.one/film/cube) (1997, Fi1m 76): Six strangers in a maze of identical rooms who argue instead of explaining. Then [*The Blair Witch Project*](https://film.one/film/the-blair-witch-project) (1999, Fi1m 84): The found-footage template, and still the best argument for showing nothing; and [*Eraserhead*](https://film.one/film/eraserhead) (1977, Fi1m 84): Lynch’s industrial nowhere, humming radiators and all; the granddad of every liminal space. ### Reviews we read (10) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an icily brilliant and genuinely disturbing conceptual horror debut that examines memory, reality and fear. They single out the barnstormingly good performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve along with the amazing production design and oppressive yellowish lighting. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/27/backrooms-review-kane-parsons-icily-disturbing-horror-rewrites-the-genre-rulebook) - **Empire**, Jamie Graham (85/100, inferred): Kane Parsons’ debut is a slow-burning, unnerving headscratcher and one of the most out-there surreal art-horror films since Eraserhead, blending found-footage and objective perspectives in an endless maze of liminal spaces. It favours opacity and unease over conventional scares and is not for everyone, but it launches the young director as a talent with a long career ahead. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/backrooms/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Amy Nicholson (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a work of honest-to-goodness art and a mature story about loss and stagnation from a 20-year-old director. They single out the minimalist story that accommodates the audience’s imagination and a special-effects shot representing how memories warp. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-05-28/backrooms-review-kane-parsons-chiwetel-ejiofor-renate-reinsve) - **The Telegraph** (85/100, inferred): The review describes the film as a freaky, unnerving and brilliantly terrifying descent into an endless yellow maze that serves as an extension to hell. It praises the 20-year-old director's understanding of liminal spaces and eerie atmosphere. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/05/29/backrooms-review/) - **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds that Parsons assuredly turns the liminal-space creepypasta into an original horror with both scares and smarts. They highlight the careful balance struck between satisfying longtime fans of the YouTube series and appealing to newcomers. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/backrooms-review-chiwetel-ejiofor-and-renate-reinsve-lose-themselves-in-creepy-slow-burn-horror/5217194.article) - **The Independent** (80/100, inferred): The film is mesmeric and wildly unique, translating the online Backrooms lore into a cinematic experience that captures a generational subconscious in its exploration of liminal spaces. It lacks some shock factor compared to similar recent horrors but stands out for its environment-driven storytelling and potential to define a new wave of filmmakers. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/backrooms-movie-review-kane-parsons-b2981258.html) - **The New York Times**, Beatrice Loayza (45/100, inferred): The critic finds that the film, expanded from a viral concept, wears thin under the weight of a full feature, though it slips under the skin with its surreal horror elements. They single out the bloated scale and over-explanation that breaks the uncanny spell. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/movies/backrooms-review-lost-in-the-expansion.html) - **Vulture** (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the results very mixed, as the film struggles to expand the online Backrooms concept and liminal-spaces aesthetic into a sustained feature-length narrative. The atmospheric sequences in the eerie, illogical spaces are haunting and effective, but the characters are thinly drawn, the structure inept, and the overall attempt to turn a vibe into a movie falls short. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/backrooms-review-you-cant-turn-a-vibe-into-a-movie.html) - **NME**, Matt Maytum (80/100, inferred): The film is a conceptually bold horror with disquieting visuals drawn from the meme and web series, effectively using found footage and liminal spaces for dread. Praises the strong first half, atmospheric style, and memorable quality while noting it is vibes-based and may divide viewers on explanation levels. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/backrooms-review-kane-parsons-pixels-a24-chiwetel-ejiofor-3947711) - **Den of Geek**, David Crow (2.5/5): The critic finds the film loses its way as a feature-length expansion, running in circles with vague ideas and feeling like an awkward IP extension despite some promise. Praises the eerie fluorescent-lit imagery and oppressive atmosphere but criticizes the lack of cohesive narrative and character depth. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/backrooms-review-a24-expansion-youtube-series/) ## Details - **Director:** Kane Parsons - **Director:** Kane Parsons - **Writer:** Will Soodik - **Cinematography:** Jeremy Cox - **Editor:** Greg Ng - **Music:** Edo van Breemen, Kane Parsons - **Production design:** Danny Vermette - **Costume design:** Mica Kayde - **Producer:** Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Dan Levine - **Cast:** Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark; Renate Reinsve as Mary; Finn Bennett as Bobby; Lukita Maxwell as Kat; Mark Duplass as Phil; Avan Jogia as Naren Warne; Robert Bobroczkyi as Pirate Clark; Ember Ambrose as Young Mary - **Runtime:** 1h 51m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 29 May 2026 - **Genres:** Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction - **Budget:** $10 million - **Box office:** $394 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HjdiohVOik ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $7.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-10.* Also available in: AT, AU, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, DK, FI, GB, IE, IN, IT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Skinamarink* (2022): A house at night, filmed from the skirting board; the same dread, no explanations at all. - *Cube* (1997), Fi1m 76: Six strangers in a maze of identical rooms who argue instead of explaining. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/cube.md) - *Pulse* (2001): Kiyoshi Kurosawa empties Tokyo one flat at a time; loneliness as the monster. - *The Blair Witch Project* (1999), Fi1m 84: The found-footage template, and still the best argument for showing nothing. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-blair-witch-project.md) - *Eraserhead* (1977), Fi1m 84: Lynch’s industrial nowhere, humming radiators and all; the granddad of every liminal space. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/eraserhead.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/backrooms