It’s not often that a major film studio would hand over a $10 million movie to a 19-year-old director fresh out of high school. Yet that is exactly what A24 have done with Backrooms, based on a YouTube series by director Kane Parsons. It seems to have paid off, as this intriguing, often uncomfortable cross-genre psychological thriller has proven itself and is outplaying Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. It’s also proof that you can have an original idea and audiences will go with it, and this is definitely one of the most original films I have seen in a long while.

Clark is a troubled man. During therapy with Mary, he recounts the downfall of his marriage, his ambition to become an architect, and his sense of loneliness. Running a furniture store that is making a loss, and living there, he discovers a crack in a wall that seems to have something on the other side. Pushing against it, he literally falls into another dimension, a vast world of corridors and rooms, each one with something different, that is going to push his reality to the limit.

The only way I can describe this incredible world is if David Lynch had a fever dream and decided to reinvent Alice in Wonderland, but with her moving through a world of rooms, corridors, and holes in the floor. Some have said it has the same atmosphere as the TV show, Severance. Whatever angle you want to take, it all seems quite unnerving, with these long corridors leading to another area filled with sunken furniture or piles of clothing. There is also something or someone roaming around with Clark. When Mary becomes concerned that her patient has disappeared, she becomes part of this maze that slowly starts to unravel with her.

Parsons and writer Will Soodik have created almost a parallel universe in the form of giant office space. The production built around 30,000 square feet of the Backrooms, so when the camera moves from area to area, it is not CGI, which makes the whole thing even more unsettling. The other part of the movie, even though there is this enormous set, all feels very claustrophobic, as if the walls are closing in.

Does it all make sense? That is up to the viewer. This is a film that doesn’t offer answers but allows the audience to make up their own minds. It doesn’t follow the normal path of horror films where the narrative lays out the chills like some tick box. This isn’t a normal horror film. In fact, I would say that horror isn’t a genre that imposes on you. Yes, there are the odd horrific moments, but this is a film that plays with your mind, the same way that a cat would play with a ball of string. It teases you into thinking one way, then pulls the rug out from under you.

It helps that the two leads are the best in the business. Chiwetel Ejiofor always delivers, whether it be in 12 Years A Slave or in Kinky Boots. Here, as Clark, he plays a man on the edge of a breakdown who is then forced into a world he has no control over, yet seems almost comfortable in. As Mary, the therapist, Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve proves she is one of the most exciting new faces around. After the brilliant Sentimental Value and The Worst Person in the World, she takes what could have been a simple, unaffecting role and breathes depth into it, particularly in the final act when she finds herself in this world.

Backrooms is a film that makes the audience work, and never talks down to them. It is exciting to see A24 taking a chance on a new filmmaker who shows confidence in handling such a production. If you want a film that is more than just another reboot or sequel, then go see this. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I assure you, you would have witnessed a future talent to keep an eye on.

4 out of 5

Director: Kane Parsons

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, Avan Jogia, Robert Bobroczkyi, Ember Ambrose, Krista Kosonen

Written by: Will Soodik and (based on the series) Kane Parsons

Running Time: 110 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 29th May 2026