Backrooms (2026) Review: A Terrifying World With No Escape

Backroom movie review:

Ever wonder if the room's exit door has no end ?

Backrooms grew out of internet horror, so pair it with our found footage horror movies list, the Resident Evil (2026) review and The Last House review. The original web series and creepypasta are explained on Wikipedia, and A24 hosts the official film page.

An unsettling eerie horror movie that creates an uncomfortable environment The Backrooms (2026) movie brings one of the internet’s most mysterious horror concepts to the big screen. Known for its endless yellow rooms and eerie silence, the Backrooms has become a popular part of internet horror culture , the story takes viewers into a strange dimension hidden beyond an ordinary doorway, where reality begins to feel unfamiliar and escape is far from guaranteed.hWith its combination of psychological horror, science fiction, suspense, and liminal spaces, The film explores fear through isolation, uncertainty, strange environments, and the terrifying possibility of becoming trapped in a world with no clear way out.

Director: Kane Parsons

Genre: Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller

Main Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass

Writer: Will Soodik

Release Date: May 29, 2026

Rating

IMDb: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 86% critics score, 74% audience score.

What is Backroom about?

The movie revolves around a therapist whose patient mysteriously disappears after becoming connected to this strange world. Determined to understand what happened and find her missing patient, she becomes drawn deeper into the Backrooms, where the rules of reality no longer seem to make sense.

The characters must navigate an environment they do not understand while trying to survive and discover a possible way back. The danger comes not only from what may be hiding inside the backrooms but also from the uncertainty of never knowing what is real.

The connection between the original and movie Backroom

The 2026 movie takes the foundation of the original Backroom idea and builds it into a larger, character-driven story. Rather than requiring viewers to know every piece of online lore, the film was designed to work for both existing fans and people discovering the Backrooms for the first time. A24 describes the movie as beginning with a strange doorway that appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.

Parsons has explained that the feature focuses more heavily on human characters and their emotional relationship with the environment. The larger production also allowed the filmmakers to create substantial physical sets and develop the world on a scale that was not possible in his original solo YouTube work.

Internet Horror vs. Feature-Film Storytelling

The biggest difference is the storytelling format. The original online shorts could leave viewers with fragments of information, unexplained details, and visual clues that encouraged them to form their own theories. A feature film, however, needs a more sustained narrative with developed characters, emotional stakes, and a story that can carry an entire theatrical experience. Parsons has specifically described the movie as approaching the Backrooms through a more human and intimate lens.

That means Backrooms (2026) is not simply a longer version of the YouTube series. It uses the familiar concept as a foundation while creating a story that can introduce the world to a wider audience without requiring previous knowledge of Parsons’ online work.

Why the Backrooms Works So Well as Psychological Horror

The Backroom concept is originally psychological horror as the real fear comes from the persons within uncertainty. There is no comfort in knowing where you are, how large the environment really is, or whether you can find your way home. The endless rooms and repetitive spaces can create a powerful sense of isolation and disorientation.

Parsons has also spoken about the way liminal spaces can make people uncomfortable because they are familiar enough to recognize but strange enough to feel completely wrong. In the feature film, that unsettling environment becomes more personal because audiences experience it through characters with their own fears, relationships, and motivations.

Online Horror vs. Storytelling

The biggest difference is the storytelling format. The original online shorts could leave viewers with limited information and bits of unexplainable theories that make people think about the possibilities of what may happen next, however a feature film needs a detailed narrative with characters and emotions. Parsons has specifically described the movie as approaching the Backrooms through a more human and intimate lens.

What makes this movie scary for the audience?

The movie starts with psychological tension constantly creating questions without having answers. Characters do not fully understand where they are, what the environment is, or how they can escape. That uncertainty keeps the tension alive because viewers are encouraged to imagine what could happen next.

The idea of being completely lost. The endless rooms and corridors make it difficult to understand direction or distance. There is no obvious landmark to follow, which turns an ordinary-looking environment into something deeply threatening.

The movie makes strong use of small and empty spaces that look ordinary but feel empty and out of place. The familiar yellow rooms, fluorescent lighting and repeated architecture create discomfort because they do not look like a traditional haunted house. Parsons has explained that the horror comes from the context of the environment rather than simply making everything visually dark or frightening.

Cinematics and visuals

The Yellow Aesthetic

The instantly recognizable yellow walls, beige carpeting, drop ceilings, and fluorescent lights remain central to the movie’s identity. These repetitive interiors create the feeling of a place that could continue forever. The familiar design also gives the film its distinctive liminal-space aesthetic, where an ordinary-looking location feels unsettling because it is empty and disconnected from normal human life.

Lighting

The lighting is intentionally unusual for a horror movie. Rather than covering everything in darkness, the film uses the harsh glow of fluorescent ceiling lights to make the spaces feel exposed and unnatural.

Camera Movement

The camera helps audiences experience the Backrooms alongside the characters. The original web series became known for its found-footage approach, with the camera moving through seemingly endless spaces and creating the sensation of actually being inside the maze. The feature expands that visual language while giving the characters a more direct presence on screen.

Shadows and Space

Even though the backrooms are brightly lit, shadows and the enormous amount of unused space still create unease. A hallway can appear completely safe while simultaneously suggesting that something could be hidden beyond the viewer's sight. This contrast between visibility and uncertainty is an important part of the movie's visual tension.

What I liked about the movie

The atmosphere of the movie explains why the movie is unsettling and why the yellow colour is needed. The empty , small spaces created a mystery and suspense that is the main organ for a horror movie. The director didn’t destroy the original concept of the backroom that is going on for 2022. The theme and idea is the same and by giving it a story didn’t change the synopsis of the backroom. The movie gradually increased the suspense rather than giving us the jumpscares. The plot is that we don’t know what is coming for us and in my opinion horror movies need to be more like this to build suspense gradually, not from the start.

What I didn’t liked about the movie

The pacing of the movie is slow especially with the atmosphere shot. As the movie develops it makes the story complicated which may be hard for the audience to follow and the backrooms overshadow the characters more. The characters do not understand the environment completely, and the audience is often placed in the same position. However, there are moments when the mystery may feel less intriguing and more frustrating, especially when several questions remain unanswered.

This was probably the biggest issue for me. Backrooms leave room for interpretation rather than explaining every part of its mythology. That can be a strength for viewers who enjoy creating their own theories, but others may finish the movie wanting clearer answers.

Backrooms ending explained

Spoiler warning: this section gives away the ending of Backrooms (2026). Skip ahead to the verdict if you haven't seen it.

What happens at the end of Backrooms?

Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) through the portal in his furniture store's basement. Several layers into the Backrooms, Clark ties her to a chair beside the frozen, copied "Still Life" figures that fill the place. Then the Lifeform finds them. It's a monstrous version of Clark himself, dressed as the pirate mascot from his store, and it's the same creature that killed Kat and Bobby earlier in the film.

The Lifeform kills Clark and turns on Mary. She fights it off with the piece of concrete she brought with her, the slab from her childhood driveway with her handprint pressed into it, and squeezes through a gap too narrow for the creature to follow.

When she gets out, she isn't free. Scientists from Async, the company that once made MRI machines and has been studying the Backrooms, take her into custody. The Lifeform is captured too and taken away for study.

What are the Backrooms, according to the movie?

In the final scenes, Phil (Mark Duplass) questions Mary and offers the closest thing the film gives to an explanation. He describes the Backrooms as a kind of echo of memories. That's why its rooms look familiar but never quite right, and why Clark's store and Mary's past keep showing up in distorted form. Phil also hints that Mary may never be allowed to leave.

What does the final shot mean?

The last image is a distorted Still Life copy of Mary sitting in a reproduced room. It ties back to her childhood with an agoraphobic mother who kept her indoors: the place has made a copy of the person who has always felt trapped. Director Kane Parsons has said the ending is deliberately open to interpretation, and that it is not a dream.

Will there be a Backrooms 2?

Nothing has been officially announced. Parsons told Polygon that more films have been "the intention since 2022," and the Async storyline leaves plenty of room for one, but no sequel is confirmed as of October 2026.

Final verdict

The movie overall lived up to its name. It didn't destroy the online youtube horror like most of the movie remakes do , the director created a theoretical universe of horror that gives people an open stage to decide the ending they want.

My rating: 7/10

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