(spoilers)

Barriers are portals and portals are barriers in the topsy-turvy world of “Backrooms.” A concept that has been kicked around the internet of abandoned office spaces being something of an inter-dimensional bridge for ten years or more. The urban myth finally gets a film flushed out. Backrooms presents a theme reflective manifestation. “The Matrix” showed us that the world was a simulation, “Us” told us the world had an equal reflective opposite. “Backrooms” tells us we manifest variance of our desires, in fact a corrupted variance.  The result is an absolutely compelling film that will leave thinking about it for days. “Backrooms” is a rich mental mind screw that tells us consistently that characters and audiences’ minds are the greatest to play in. A psychological horror that makes you question everything. Doors, and Windows are constantly used throughout the film. A door is always presented as entering a different world, a different environment. Even if it is not in the backroom dimension. Entering a door in this film is a transition. It is a transition. Every scene is about entering or leaving a door or the view from a window. casual like played on theme and challenged definition. Sometimes a door is the barrier and the window is

“I am an architect!” screams Clark , the furniture store owner and manager to this therapist. Clark is seeking help in his mismanaged personal life and crumbling business.  Things have never seemed to come to fruition for him. He also struggles to accept reality to the point that the discovery of the backrooms from a wall in his furniture store has finally sparked life into him. His therapist, Mary played marvelously by Renate Reinsve, is left solemn with her sessions with him. Mary’s traumatic childhood has sparked her to go into psychological therapy. Mary’s concept of “The Window Within” tells us that people struggle to repeat patterns and habits even though it would work because of the feeling of safety. It is Mary’s belief that rams head and is a wonderful juxtaposition to Clark stubbornness of not accepting reality. 

The story of a monster in the maze isn’t new, the story of mundane urban settings could be portals to inter-dimensional worlds isn’t new.  Or even that the inter-dimension is a flawed and imperfect world to be in. What is new is the desire not to escape it but to perpetually stay in and to enjoy it. 8.5/10