Kimball Film

By Ryan Boss
May 28th, 2026

The opening moments of Kane Parson’s horrifying debut are the perfect nightmare. Filmed like a 90’s camcorder home-video, the patient, anxiety-inducing opener starts in the dreary labyrinth of yellow walls. The P.O.V. is that of a man in some sort of hazmat suit running from room to room, double checking every corner around him as he fights to catch his breath. Parson takes his time setting the tone, letting the horror build slowly. He gives just enough ambiguity to let the audience go from wondering “How did we get here?” to “How can we get out?” This sequence  crescendos into a terrifying climax as the man is chased into a room, painted wall-to-wall with dreamlike colors, cornered in the realization that he’s completely trapped. This 5 minute opener is scarier than most films are in their entire run, and despite its brisk pace leaves a mark that defines the rest of “Backrooms” and leaves the viewer wondering “why couldn’t the rest of the movie be just like this?”
 
The story follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a furniture store owner lost in his life after his wife left him. Clark meets periodically with his therapist Mary, played by an underused Renate Reinsve, where he spends most of his 60 minutes yelling at her. When he’s not in her office, he’s in his store, either filming a pirate-themed commercial or sleeping in his own display beds, drinking himself to sleep. The directionless Clark finds new purpose as he begins to unravel the mysteries of a massive complex hidden through the walls of his furniture store basement. A self proclaimed architect, Clark finds himself enamored by the endless and unpredictable nature of these “backrooms,” which seems to be an ever expanding place of beige yellow hallways, randomly scattered road signs, and cardboard cutouts of cavemen. Every new room feels familiar, but something clearly isn’t right. 

For the audience, drifting through each new strange room is just as intoxicating for us as it is for Clark. The star of the show is Danny Vermette’s stunning production design. Taking the iconic yellow walls that have been singular to the Backrooms as a concept from the beginning, Vermette fills each room with something special and unique. Something as simple as banners hanging from the ceiling or a pillar extending from floor to ceiling feel bursting with creativity and takes an almost mundane idea far beyond what it could’ve been. The film’s most jaw dropping moments come from quick pans up that show hallways where ceilings should be or rooms with floors that lift at a 90 degree angle. As we scour through each room, it’s hard not to become addicted to Parson and Vermette’s imagination, which is what makes it so frustrating when the story pulls out of the Backrooms and into the largely uninteresting real world. 

Showcased at its worst in a “roleplaying” session between Clark and his therapist Mary, the dialogue and character work nearly kills what makes the film so enjoyable. While the conceptual Backrooms are at their most effective leaning into the unknown, Parsons and screenwriter Will Soodik bring the film to a halt with their heavy-handed dialogue and seemingly random character developments. When the story circles back around in the third act to a certain “roleplaying” experience from earlier in the movie, it leaves you wondering if Parson and Soodik ran out of ideas, a concept so hard to grasp since the first half of the film is stuffed full of creativity and endless possibilities. Though it is important to mention, despite the character development being so jarring and unconvincing, Ejiofor delivers an exceptional performance as he does his best to make the writing work.

While the character work hurts the film, I can’t completely dismiss it after that stunning centerpiece sequence in the middle of the film when Parson gets to work in the field that made his YouTube videos famous in the first place. The terrifying, first person P.O.V. camcorder shots showing our characters being chased through the Backrooms. Along with the magnificent opening, the film hits its peak when the mentally deteriorating Clark pulls in two of his employees into the Backrooms with him. Parsons’ masterful control of pace and tension makes this stretch one of the most invigorating set pieces in years. Drawing immediate comparisons to films like The Blair Witch Project, Parsons keeps you scanning every frame, checking every corner in pure paranoia at the thought of there being something hidden.  The brilliant use of the 90’s camcorder keeps the frame blurry, allowing the imagination to run wild through each changing room. 

Kane Parson’s “Backrooms” can often be underwhelming, but when it finds its footing it soars. What the film lacks in character is more than made up for in originality. It’s not often you see a horror movie with ideas this exciting.