phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2026

Backrooms



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2026
Runtime: 1h 50m
Country: USA, Canada
Language: English
Genre Tags: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Plot Summary: After a therapist's patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Mostly running on vibes, but a slim script is elevated by two strong performances. Two characters trapped in traumatic memories. One wants change, but focuses outward, helping others. The other does not, purposely turning inward, isolating themselves. Neither outcome is good. The final scenes raise a ton of practical questions, turning what could've been read as metaphors into something literal. I'm not sure that's a bad thing, because I was more interested in the exploration of weird liminal spaces, but it tacks what seems like setup for a sequel onto what could've been an emotionally satisfying ending.


Outside Reviews:

Brian Tallerico
3 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Halfway through this horror hit, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) explains the concept of "Backrooms" by saying it's like describing a dog to someone and then asking them to draw it. They'd get the basics right, but the details would be off. And probably in a deeply unsettling way. This "imagined dog" manifests itself in Kane Parsons' highly anticipated film, one based on the creepypasta that spawned his own YouTube series and clearly inspired by everything from the never-ending hallways of "Severance" to The Black Lodge in "Twin Peaks." With its effective visual language and strongly directed performances, "Backrooms" is more promising than anything else, a sign of what could be built within this subgenre and what its creator could make in the future.


Jacob Oller
Grade: C+ - Creepypasta comes to life then infects its characters in Backrooms

If nothing else, Kane Parsons' feature-length Backrooms faithfully recreates the sensation of stumbling across its creepypasta origins. Like Slender Man, the viral phenomenon preyed on a fear derived not from imagining that we are physically in these unreal spaces, chased by unknowable beings, but one stemming from our psyches being submerged in endless disorienting videos of places detached from reality. Here, these surreal spaces evoke the labyrinthine corridors of dead-end retail and soul-sucking office work. It's suburban strip mall horror, which Parsons demystifies over the course of his overwrought directorial debut.