Introduction

Kane Pixels — real name Kane Parsons — took a single image scattered across the digital sea of the internet and turned it into something that genuinely still creeps me out. The Backrooms: a place removed from all understanding, a maze of liminal spaces that seem to almost mirror our world while containing endless irregularities and lurking threats. The concept exploded into a hit video series on YouTube — and now, somehow, A24 Pictures saw the potential to turn Parsons’ vision into a full-blown feature film. Simply titled Backrooms, this movie had me genuinely hyped — I had nothing but hope that this young director could translate a viral found footage series into something worthy of the big screen. The question is: did Parsons pull off a task that even some legendary directors can’t manage? I’m about to find out in my Backrooms movie review! Heads up — this review is spoiler-free for both the film and the original found footage series online.

Story

The year is 1990, and we’re introduced to Clark (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), a once-hopeful architect who now runs a furniture store he can barely stand. His life has fallen apart — his wife divorced him and took the house, and his business is bleeding money. Now living inside the very store he loathes, Clark discovers a strange passageway into an unknown location that mirrors our world like a failed, distorted copy. When he tries to tell his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), his story understandably lands with a thud — between the trauma of the divorce and his alcoholism, she’s not exactly rushing to believe him.

Determined to get proof, Clark enlists two coworkers — Kat and Bobby (Lukita Maxwell and Finn Bennett) — to venture into the sprawling, yellow-wallpapered rooms with a camera in hand. But as they’ll quickly discover, those irregularly shaped chambers hold far more than misshapen furniture and oddly designed corridors. Something is in there. Something is waiting.

Backrooms does an excellent job capturing the spirit of Kane Parsons’ original YouTube series — note that this is not based on the games or the multi-level Backrooms mythology, but specifically on Parsons’ found footage work. Fans of the series will find lore woven throughout, and newcomers will find themselves wanting to dig deeper after the credits roll. I caught numerous nods to Parsons’ original footage scattered across scenes and story beats, all of which do a superb job of keeping audiences curious and engaged from start to finish. Even the ending is deliberately open to interpretation — perfect fuel for theorists. One watch genuinely doesn’t feel like enough, and that’s one of the film’s greatest strengths — I want to go back just to catch what I missed. The story and characters come together in a way that successfully elevates an internet series into something that feels like the foundation of a genuine movie franchise.

My one minor complaint involves the monsters — specifically the final creature in the film. In Parsons’ YouTube series, the entities known as Bacteria appear rarely, and when they do, it’s brief and genuinely frightening. The film takes those threats in a new direction, which is both a strength and a weakness. On the positive side, the new form these entities take adds another interesting facet to Parsons’ creative mythology, and their presence makes The Backrooms feel even more unsettling. On the downside, the final big threat will likely cause some audience members to scratch their heads — not necessarily out of fear, but because it ventures into territory that’s undeniably odd. I’ll leave it there, as promised.

Acting and Cast

I’ll admit I had some initial concern when I realized that beyond the excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor, much of the supporting cast operates outside the mainstream spotlight. Lukita Maxwell is gaining recognition for her work in Shrinking, and Finn Bennett made an impression in True Detective: Night Country — but several others are considerably less known in American film and television circles. Those concerns evaporated quickly. Even with Chiwetel and Renate Reinsve anchoring the film as its two central performances, every single cast member delivers. There was not a moment where I felt anyone missed the mark or failed to inhabit their role with conviction. My only minor wish is that a few of the side characters had been given slightly more screen time — they were genuinely compelling — but I also understand that expanding their roles could have diluted the focus that makes this kind of story work.

Cinematography and Direction

Another concern I had going in was how Backrooms would handle the shift between found footage and traditional filmmaking — two formats that don’t always coexist gracefully. Kane Parsons, despite being a remarkably young director, puts that concern to rest almost immediately. The direction is handled flawlessly, switching between perspectives with confidence and giving both protagonists just enough breathing room to develop their individual arcs before weaving them together. The cinematography matches that ambition beat for beat. One moment the camera is locked in — methodically exploring rooms, studying how Clark and Mary examine their strange new surroundings. The next, it shifts into the raw, amateurish style that great found footage horror demands — capturing dread in a way that feels genuinely unscripted. Parsons navigates both registers with a maturity well beyond his years. Honestly, I’d love to see him bring that sensibility to other dormant found footage franchises — a Parsons-led take on The Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity feels like something the genre desperately needs.

Conclusion

Backrooms is the rare film I’d genuinely spend money to see a second time — and that’s not something I say lightly. It will likely divide audiences depending on their familiarity with The Backrooms mythology and Kane Parsons’ original YouTube work, but for those willing to let the film do its thing, there’s a truly distinctive take on a format that has been run into the ground waiting to be discovered here. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve are outstanding, and Kane Parsons has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that he belongs behind a camera at the highest level. Give Backrooms a watch — trust me, readers, you won’t be disappointed.