I’m Trevor with the Sasquatch Movie Minute with a look at THE BACKROOMS, directed by Kane Parsons, starring Chiwetel Ejiofer and Renate Reinsve. A therapist must save her patient who has gotten lost in a weird dimension of liminal space.

3.5 out of 5

I really loved the itchy unsettling vibe of this thing; like a tone exercise built out of atmosphere and architecture. It felt like a cross between TWIN PEAKS and elements of US. Liminal space refers to the unnerving feeling of normally busy big spaces that are empty; like the weird feeling you get in an empty mall or parking garage. The backrooms phenomenon is a creepypasta 4chan set of tales based off a single image of an empty Wisconsin Hobby Lobby. The 20-year old director is another young Youtube horror maker who managed to 8x his budget in a single weekend and is now the youngest director ever to have a #1 film at the box office. I felt the journey portions really worked, and the concept of the backrooms was fascinatingly vague, with an interesting commentary on AI. The score was also evocative; incorporating 90s industrial hums into the mix. The character work felt very jumbled and I did feel the ending was utterly unnecessary to the experience. We also see way too much in the last act that lessens the scary loneliness of unknowing. Though a chilling last set of images could open up a fascinating sequel.

Best Scene. There is a long dinner scene that shows of some exceptional acting, elegantly ties to an earlier scene, and moves between a vast variety of tones. Once you can parse what is happening in this scene, it becomes shockingly complex. It also shows that this young director really can do more than show exploration videos of the backrooms.

Best Performance. Chiwetel is always up for good work. Even though his character is a mess of motivations and 40-something cliches, he commits fully to every weird quirk and outburst.

This is an eerie vibe of a movie; vastly creative and a showcase for a new exciting director.