Backrooms

my god, what a delight! (very mild spoilers, ahead) this felt like if the FNAF movie suddenly became ‘As Above, So Below’ and then just served up a David Lynch tribute outta nowhere that should be a total mess of a film, but I found this kinda perfect (hence the 5/5). What’s a neat factory sandwich, to an ideal Sloppy Joe? it was very silly, very fun, very artful and very Gen-Z, I can absolutely tell that someone my age directed this edit: another thing I realised, days later (about how this film represents modern day through a 90s perspective) is how both of our main characters have their own idealised public personas, in form of their adverts. That’s a small - but very interesting - touch to this, that helps in my point abt just how timeless this feels I also liked the writing, you feel what you gotta feel and know what you gotta know. never takes itself too serious Reminded me of Obsession, but whereas plenty of the practical execution of that one is great — and all the stylings were up my alley — I hated what it was doing at its core. I liked all of what Backrooms was doing. I found it current. thought it was evocative of gen-AI bullshit, and even its communities — in Mark Duplass’s character and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s; He actually reminded me of my father — in lots of ways — which- Idk if anyone else found this, but (for me) it made sense for his character to wind up in the position he does (considering how so many older man seem to have a weird infatuation with that stuff) Also felt like this film could be read as anti-“theorist”. Like those “movie explained” videos on YouTube that try to over-explain an expressionistic film/web-series’s diegetic world, as apposed to what the work is trying to say in it’s subtext/emotions Generally: I think it’s just about escapism, gone too far (whether it’s trauma response, curiosity, or blind ambition to “figure it out”). I can imagine this aging really well / working without the internet context. It’s just very universal, in that way. I wasn’t a fan of a few editing choices. There was like one 10 second flashback that was just unnecessary: Gen-Z, in the derogative “Netflix attention span” way. apart from that, I just had the widest smile, from the middle to that final shot the whole extended found-footage section, was an absolute highlight; That could’ve been the whole film, but there’s plenty more to the full package There’s more to it, but this still works self contained. The film practically tells you “there’s nothing to figure out”. Leaving this, thinking there’s gotta be a sequel explaining what duplass’s character has to do in all this, I think: is to miss the point. For me, it just reads as angst against this idea that corporations/governments are above human faults: insanity is insanity, no matter how you try and dress it. I feel like there’s some explanations in the mini-series, but what’s in the film works, on an expressionistic and emotional level. the whole uncertain atmosphere of the ending also was really just great