Matt Lune

Good grief, way to waste a fantastic pun of a title. I gave this two stars: one for William H Macy (even though he's absolutely phoning it in) and one for the good chuckle I got from the last few minutes.

This and *Obsession* releasing so close to each other has been referred to as the 'Barbenheimer for Sickos' and let me tell you: I'm here for it and I'm loving it. I love how Kane Parsons has no real interest in explaining what the Backrooms is. It's copying the real world, emulating it but not quite getting it right. There are monsters in there, but are the monsters actually us? Are they only there because they're mirroring what they see in us? If you look long enough will you find yourself in there, or is the whole point of the Backrooms to find yourself when you're truly lost? Is everyone's Backrooms different or is every visitor helping to build its infinite rooms with their memories? Like the liminal purgatory itself, Parsons seems content to let us wander into the theories, getting ourselves lost in the symbolism and vibes. Similarly, I can see this franchise continuing on, endlessly exploring different facets of this limbo space. Chiwetel Ejiofor brings considerable weight to this movie as Clark, the furniture store owner broken after his failed marriage, but Renate Reinsve is fantastic as the skeptical psychiatrist who ventures into the Backrooms to find him. If I had to criticise, the movie feels like it ends way too quickly. It almost feels a little like Parsons is withholding from us in order to have more to share later on. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it left this movie wanting a little. Overall though this is a brilliant debut from the 20yr old (!!!) director, and jokes aside this and *Obsession* really make you feel like we're witnessing a milestone in horror movie history.