Lennon Cruz

Back in da room But for real, this movie is REALLY a thinker. Putting a disclaimer here that a lot of the following thoughts are me spitballing, and a LARGE chunk of it is influenced by how Hailey interpreted this movie. Captain Clark devouring Clark seems to be a metaphor that if you refuse to change and stay stagnant, your ego will ultimately consume you. Notice how Captain Clark appears when Clark decides that he doesn't want to change, and will just stay as he is and where he is. The references to loops this time really stuck out. The mentions had me thinking about loops in memories, thoughts, habits, and thinking overall. The Backrooms seem to personify these loops through imperfect memories, recreating places, people, and ultimately taking in our negative aspects too. Some imagery that caught my eye this viewing was crop top employee's guts being dragged by Captain Clark as the camera makes it down to the lower level. Super gory and makes me squirm thinking about it. I also noticed that you can hear seagulls in the Async facility towards the end of the movie, are the seagulls seemingly funneling into a room Async has blocked off? Are they maybe holding them captive and sending them through different null zones to see where they end up, akin to how they have stockpiles of the caveman speakers to lure still life out? I don't know, and to be honest, it's really cool that I don't know! The movie gives you a lot to chew on -- what the Backrooms are, how they bring to life people's experiences/emotions and why. What they are? I interpreted the facility as an entity which imperfectly recreates places from a collective of people's memories. This is apparent in the recreations of places Clark has seen, especially his furniture store. At the end, it's seen with Mary's house, and the overall neighborhoods that we see throughout the movie. How they bring to life people's experiences/emotions? Seemingly through still life/creatures/people. We see an imperfect recreation of a guy in a Hawaiian outfit, and a seeming recreation of Clark's wife, Barbara. The other still life, I'm not so sure. Also notice, when Clark introduces this still life to Mary, he states that they don't feel fear. When Captain Clark enters, however, Barbara's still life runs away and screams in fear. It brings to question, what the FUCK is the life in the Backrooms? Why the Backrooms is creating all of this? I DON'T KNOW. To be honest, this is the coolest part about this movie. It presents information and background to what these people see and experience from the Backrooms, but no one can really explain it. It's like explaining a dog to someone who's never seen a dog before, then asking them to draw it. I hope that with Kane Parson's future Backrooms work, whether it be his web series or another movie/movies, that these questions are NEVER ANSWERED. How else are we supposed to generate discussion? It's so applicable to so many different things, and the theories and interpretations behind them are maybe the most interesting/fun part about this experience. I saw an interpretation that I thought was cool, in that the Backrooms are an observation/criticism of generative AI. Generative AI takes in what we tell it, and regurgitates it back imperfectly, often hallucinating or giving incorrect information. It also seems to exaggerate specific things, just as the Backrooms does, ESPECIALLY with negative emotions. Case in point Captain Clark: Why was he so violent? Did the Backrooms take in how Clark hurts people and personifies his negative ego, exaggerating it to the point of severe violence? All this being said, I think my rating on this movie stays the same. I really like the questions this movie opens up and how well it's shot and designed, but I was left wanting more out of our main cast. I actually wanted more scenes, more development, just more of everything. This might be a bit of a skill issue in that MAYBE I wanted just a bit more explained so I didn't feel so confused, but I have to give it credit - it made me FEEL something.

Mechanical machines, dr eggman, and a beautiful score to boot. After years of hearing the score in various Ghibli lofi mixes (embarassing but yes), I've finally seen the source material! Miyazaki fucking LOVES his mechanical machines. The love & care put into the animation of the intricate machines is put on full display. The story was so heartwarming. I didn't realize this until after, but this was Miyazaki's first film under the Studio Ghibli name! I haven't watched Nausicaa yet, but this was seemingly the start of Miyazaki's criticism of greed and power, and the ensuing struggle for good and nature to prevail. I love the subversion of the pirates in the middle of the movie. Yes, they're greedy and want to plunder, but their leader, Dola, ultimately instills so much heart into them. The relationship Sheeta & Pazu develop is SO CUTE. I love how they trust each other so fully, and how willing they are to help each other. So so SO visually stunning. The score complements everything so well, and dare I say it's maybe one of the best scored Ghibli films. Seeing films in film is unparalleled. So cool to see in 35mm print, jank and all. It adds so much feeling and authenticity to the experience, knowing that I'm experiencing it the exact same way it was shown to audiences back in the 80s. After seeing this film, it slots itself into #3 in my favorite Ghibli films of all time (for now).

Definitely a thinker. The cinematography was off the charts, and the way shots lingered was Lynchian and added to the uneasiness of the experience. The lighting and shots were phenomenal and were a large driving force in making any of the atmosphere in the Backrooms work. The suspense and build up of the environment were nice, and the environment felt downright claustrophobic. Really honed in on the sense of the movie. The found footage scenes were some of the best in the whole movie, and you can see Kane Parson’s style from the web series all over these particular scenes. The scene w Clark ending up in the room with the Christmas tree was especially scary, & the image of the copy of Mary in the Backrooms really sat with me. The overarching idea that the Backrooms is an amalgamation of memories and things that we ourselves don’t remember properly is such an interesting and cool idea. The idea makes my skin crawl, and aptly does so in the movie. I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed actually seeing the monster so clearly in the end, it was definitely freaky but after seeing it, it just kinda looked goofy. The way the first 2/3rds of the movie obscure the creatures within the Backrooms and leave it up to imagination make it so much scarier than actually seeing the creature. That being said, I still liked the designs of the creatures overall, and how they add to Kane’s existing Backrooms lore. I think being exposed to David Lynch has really given me an appreciation for lingering shots. The use of them here was quite nice in setting the tone and eeriness of the movie, however, I will say that in terms of pacing and plot it was on the slower side. This was definitely a film where the plot/horrors are more implied and are something that you come to interpret yourself, so I’m gonna have to come back to these thoughts after I’ve thought about it a bit more. Overall giving it a 4/5, the execution of the atmosphere and shots alone push it over the edge for me, and while the plot was a bit confusing for me I think there’s more to be said here once I can peel back behind the faded yellow wallpaper.

Joseph Kosinski’s last 2 movies have been an “Unc’s still got it” montage LMFAOOO That being said, this is by no means a narrative masterpiece but the action and tension that’s built during those scenes are masterful. The sound design and stakes that are set up have been good in every Kosinski movie I’ve seen, the narrative just never is in line with the action and that’s okay. Score was great, vfx and action was great, narrative was nothing to write home about and the acting was passable for what was asked for. One thing I noticed here: in the scene where Mav and Rooster are talking, the shot is set up when Tom Cruise is talking in which he is as tall as Miles Teller. This is especially funny when it cuts to Miles Teller and he’s CLEARLY taller than Tom Cruise.