Backrooms Review
After watching The Backrooms, I honestly think this could end up becoming one of the most divisive horror films in years. Not because it’s bad, but because it fully commits to atmosphere over traditional storytelling. This is not a loud horror movie. It’s not built around cheap jump scares every five minutes. It’s this weird, unnerving, almost anxiety-inducing experience that slowly crawls under your skin.
What shocked me most is how much it actually feels like an A24 horror film while still keeping the identity of the original internet concept intact. A lot of the time when internet horror gets adapted into mainstream projects, it loses what made it creepy in the first place. Here though, Kane Parsons somehow manages to keep that same unsettling energy that made the original Backrooms videos blow up online.
The first half of the film is honestly fantastic. There’s this constant sense of dread hanging over every single scene. The empty rooms, fluorescent lighting, distant noises, and endless maze-like hallways genuinely feel uncomfortable to watch. The film understands that the Backrooms are scary because they feel wrong. It’s the feeling that you shouldn’t be there. Like reality itself is broken.
What I really loved is that the movie doesn’t constantly throw monsters at you. A lot of the fear comes from anticipation. You’re constantly looking into the background of shots expecting something to move or appear. The sound design especially is insane. Tiny noises suddenly become terrifying because of how isolated everything feels.
Visually, the movie is ridiculously impressive. The cinematography and framing make these spaces feel endless. Some shots genuinely look like nightmares captured on film. There’s also something about the way the environments are lit that feels so authentically liminal and uncanny. It captures that exact internet horror aesthetic people have been obsessed with for years.
But honestly, I do think the movie loses a little bit of its magic in the second half. For me, the scariest part of the Backrooms concept has always been the mystery. The less you know, the scarier it is. Once the film starts expanding the lore and trying to explain things more, it becomes slightly less effective. Not bad, just less creepy than when it was purely relying on atmosphere and confusion.
That said, I still really respected what the film was trying to do. It feels ambitious, weirdly artistic, and completely different from most modern horror films. You can absolutely feel the A24 influence all over it. It’s slow, uncomfortable, experimental at times, and more focused on making you feel uneasy than giving you constant payoff.
I also think some audiences are going to hate it purely because of the pacing. This is a very slow burn horror film. If you need nonstop action or traditional horror structure, it probably won’t work for you. But if you’re someone who loves atmospheric psychological horror, this thing absolutely delivers.
Overall, I came away really impressed. It’s creepy, visually stunning, genuinely tense in parts, and most importantly, it feels different. Even when it stumbles slightly later on, the atmosphere alone makes it memorable.
I rate The Backrooms a 7.5 out of 10. It’s one of those films that sticks in your head afterwards purely because of how uncomfortable and strangely immersive it feels.
