Backrooms

“This certainly innovative horror of Parson's imagination works best when it leaves us to try and put two and two together, scrap it, and try all over again. What gives Backrooms its punch is the sense of the inexplicable and yet the familiar – we have all been here, walking into a long, dark corridor with lights humming overhead or flickering. It's when Parsons tries to give Backrooms a worldly – even 'scientific' – explanation that the film fumbles.”

“Backrooms is an atmospheric horror film that relies on the subliminal horror we have of empty spaces. The film does not rely on a creature to generate fear. Instead, the environment becomes the monster. Parsons understands that an empty room can be more terrifying than any apparition when it feels loaded with forgotten meaning.”

“In the Backrooms movie, Chiwetel Ejiofor discovers the liminal horror of a mysterious and terrifying hidden world.”

“Backrooms gets a lot right - from the eerie setting to the discomforting way in which it has been shot, and of course, the pitch perfect performances. It is an ambitious film told in a novel way. But it is also indulgent and chaotic, and not always in a good way.”

“A stylish and atmospheric horror film that prioritises mood and immersion over traditional storytelling.”

“Kane Parsons builds a fascinating maze with impressive atmosphere and visuals, though its ambiguity may divide viewers.”

“But if the film captures something of the concept's intriguing unease, its underbaked storytelling made me wonder if some spooky ideas might be better left as whispers in the dark. The film wants to invite you in, but the more the Backrooms try to explain themselves, the more quotidian they feel.”

“YouTuber Kane Parsons makes his feature directing debut with this icily brilliant and genuinely disturbing conceptual horror film based on his web series... Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve give barnstormingly good performances as Clark and Mary... Backrooms progressively raises its game towards the big finish with jump scares, squirm scares and tiny shiver scares.”

“Kane Parsons builds the year's most convincing horror maze. The 20-year-old behind the viral YouTube series turns his liminal-space nightmare into a feature that is cannier and lonelier than its origins.”

“Kane Parsons' feature debut delivers exactly what you would hope for - a deeply unsettling trip into liminal horror. For newcomers, however, the experience may feel like wandering through an endless maze without a map.”

“The animation is bright, colorful, and visually inviting. The jungle setting is filled with lively characters and appealing imagery that keep young viewers invested throughout the film.”

“What follows is one of the most persuasive acts of spatial horror I can remember seeing in years. Parsons and production designer Danny Vermette conceive the notoriously inconceivable Backrooms as a world assembled from half-remembered instructions about reality.”