The lore behind the new A24 movie, “Backrooms,” is deep. Written by Will Soodik and directed by Kane Parsons — Parsons, as fans of this internet phenomenon are aware, essentially created this entire thing in 2022 by posting a video called “The Backrooms (Found Footage)” to his YouTube account that ultimately became a sensation — the “Backrooms” movie could very well be one of the biggest projects of the summer season. So, uh … what is it?
That’s actually really hard to explain, but let me take a crack at it. The idea of the “Backrooms” as a space is, in and of itself, really scary; it’s essentially a liminal space that exists as a place “between” more concrete planes of being, and it began its life as a “creepypasta,” or written Internet horror legend, before Parsons made his YouTube series. In the A24 movie adaptation, Oscar nominee and “12 Years a Slave” star Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Clark, a furniture store owner who explores an odd series of spaces in the site’s basement. I don’t want to get too far into spoilers here, so that’s about as much of the plot as I’ll cover, but this movie has some serious pedigree amongst its cast. Oscar nominees Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve (“The Worst Person in the World,” “Sentimental Value”) lead the pack, supported by talented performers like “Shrinking” standout Lukita Maxwell, “True Detective: Night Country” and “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” star Finn Bennett, and mumblecore king Mark Duplass, just to name a few.
If you love the creepy feel of “Backrooms,” what should you watch next? I’ve got some ideas. Here are five movies that play with the very concept of space, time, and existence, just like “Backrooms.”
Skinamarink
Kyle Edward Ball’s homegrown 2022 horror movie “Skinamarink” definitely feels like a perfect pairing with “Backrooms,” but there’s actually something even scarier about “Skinamarink” — it centers around two freaked-out young kids.
With only four actors in the film — Lucas Paul and Dali Rose Tetreault as siblings Kevin and Kaylee, and Ross Paul and Jaime Hill as their mom and dad — “Skinamarink” makes exquisite use of its tiny budget and produces some of the most frightening horror sequences in recent memory by putting us in Kevin’s confused shoes. As Kevin and Kaylee watch cartoons in their darkened house, doors start disappearing and reappearing on the ceiling, the only toilet vanishes entirely, and something even worse happens to Kevin and Kaylee’s mom and dad up in their bedroom. As the two kids try to figure out what’s going on, the house itself seems to become sinister, and trust me, after “Skinamarink,” you’ll definitely never look at a Fisher-Price toy phone the same way again.
Not only do “Backrooms” and “Skinamarink” both play with space in a way that’s flat-out terrifying, but both of them got their start on YouTube; before using his parents’ house to make “Skinamarink,” Ball ran a YouTube channel where he created videos that resembled people’s real nightmares. Frankly, “Skinamarink” is so scary because it feels like a nightmare we all probably had as kids: that our house has become something horrible, and our parents can’t or won’t help. From constantly buzzing static to the film’s eerie, ominous darkness to the way the house transforms into the movie’s villain, you’ll find yourself fully freaked out by “Skinamarink.”
Vivarium
First, let me get something out of the way. According to Merriam-Webster, the word “vivarium” refers to a terrarium typically used to house small animals, so that should give you some indication as to what Lorcan Finnegan’s 2019 film “Vivarium” is about. Finnegan, also known for his work on “Black Mirror” as well as the films “Nocebu” and “The Surfer,” casts Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots in this deeply unsettling sci-fi thriller as Tom and Gemma, a couple who find themselves in a really weird living arrangement.
In “Vivarium,” Gemma and Tom, looking for a new home to live in together, visit a complex of houses called Yonder. Even though they’re sort of weirded out by the fact that every house looks exactly the same, Gemma and Tom’s fate is sealed; after dealing with a bizarre real estate agent named Martin (Jonathan Aris), they find that they just can’t leave the home they’ve looked at and are forced to just figure out how to live in house number 9.
Worse still, as Gemma and Tom desperately try to understand what’s happening to them, an unseen force drops an infant at their doors and orders them to care for it. I’m sure you can imagine just how weird “Vivarium” gets from there, but as with the other films on the list, I won’t be spoiling the freaky-deaky twists and turns in “Vivarium” here. Rest assured, though, that “Backrooms” and “Vivarium” make quite a pair, and you’ll never look at an empty room or a row of identical townhouses the same way ever again. (Plus, Eisenberg and Poots are excellent in this generally underrated film.)
Lost Highway
It’s no secret that the late, great David Lynch’s surreal, bizarre movies are often really scary; I myself had to shut off “Mulholland Drive” after that diner scene spooked me too badly to keep going. (I finished it later. Calm down.) One of his most underrated and most frightening movies, though, is definitely “Lost Highway” — and it’s easy to presume that Kane Parsons might have taken some inspiration from Lynch’s work on this 1997 film.
“Lost Highway,” which Lynch directed and co-wrote with his frequent collaborator Barry Gifford, stars Bill Pullman as Fred Madison, a saxophone player who lives in the Hollywood Hills with his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette). When Fred and Renee start receiving strange messages and VHS tapes, their relationship begins to deterioriate, and things only get worse (and a lot scarier) when he meets a figure known only as the Mystery Man. (Horrifyingly and appropriately, the Mystery Man is played by Robert Blake, was accused of murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2002; though he was acquitted, he was found liable of her death in a civil court and ordered to pay damages.) As the Mystery Man starts tormenting Fred, the audience also loses track of what’s real and what’s not.
Like pretty much every project in Lynch’s oeuvre, “Lost Highway” is largely inscrutable, flat-out baffling, and difficult to fully grasp … but it’s also an experience that rewards repeat viewings, if you dare. “Backrooms” might be the new flashy horror movie that toys with the audience’s view of its very existence, but “Lost Highway” did it first.
The Shining
Even if Kane Parsons somehow isn’t familiar with David Lynch’s works like “Lost Highway,” he’s almost definitely seen “The Shining,” one of the most famous movies ever made and one of Stephen King’s best adaptations (whether the author agrees with me or not). Directed by the masterful Stanley Kubrick, this 1980 horror-thriller lets Jack Nicholson slowly but surely lose his mind as Jack Torrance, a novelist struggling with writer’s block, agrees to work as a caretaker for the snow-covered and remote Overlook Hotel during the winter season. After bringing his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) to the hotel while it’s completely closed down, Jack is determined to work on his novel but finds himself distracted by the building’s supernatural forces; while Jack explores the premises and makes friends with figures that ultimately turn out to be ghosts, Danny, who also has connections to the supernatural world, sees visions of his own.
Without question, “The Shining” is one of the most influential movies in the entire horror genre, and there’s a reason that fans have been obsessively spotting small details in this movie for decades since its release. Though the well-decorated Overlook might not seem to have anything in common with the eerie, empty rooms in “Backrooms,” both films take place in spaces that can change and twist at a moment’s notice, leading to frightening or even dangerous situations. (I still can’t watch the bathtub scene in “The Shining” without covering my eyes, honestly.)
As Above, So Below
Set and shot in the famously creepy Paris catacombs and directed by John Erick Dowdle — who co-wrote the script with his brother Drew Dowdle — the 2014 film “As Above, So Below” also tells a story of people lost and even trapped in a constantly shifting space that seems to, somehow, have ulterior motives of its own. When we first meet protagonist Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks), she’s desperate to find the famed “philosopher’s stone” allegedly crafted by alchemist Nicolas Flamel — yes, the one from Harry Potter — and heads to Paris after procuring a mysterious key from a cave in Iran.
Flanked by documentarian Benji (Edwin Hodge) and her ex-boyfriend and translator George (Ben Feldman), Scarlett ends up finding her way into the catacombs through a typically off-limits entrance thanks to explorer Papillon (François Civil). When a tunnel collapses behind Scarlett, Benji, and George, though, they realize they’re on their own … and the catacombs start changing, as if they’re sentient. From there, the trio has to figure out how, if possible, they can survive the horrors that await them below.
Inspired by a variety of sources, including Dante’s “Inferno” and even “The Dirty Dozen,” “As Above, So Below” is a genuinely thrilling and totally scary ride through the apparently haunted underbelly of Paris, and if you’re positively titillated by the way that the titular rooms in “Backrooms” can constantly shift and change, you’ll definitely love this pick too.
As for “Backrooms,” it’s in theaters now, so go experience it for yourself … and then come back and watch these five movies.
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