Backrooms

i would like to clarify, i did not rewatch this film. but, i think it’s necessary to write a new review to reflect on my true opinions. Aside from having one of my favorite 90 minute starts to a movie ever, i think clark is insanely well-written and incredibly overlooked. true emotions and thoughts about movies don’t always occur right away, this took me 5 days to get my brain moving on my developed feelings about this masterpiece. sure, some parts were unnecessary and maybe there to please a thriller-seeking audience, notably the last 15-30 minutes depending on the version you see and the bit with the ramp and employees, but the philosophy of turning clark into theseus’ ship living, speaking and changing on the screen is innovation unheard of before. “i think i like it in here” is one of the most powerful pieces of dialogue i can remember. an architect discovering a perfect constructed paradise away from a failed relationship and career and finding peace in every place that ever was is too beautiful of a conclusion for a devastatingly relatable character. addressing the daily grind on american wage work, failed promises of perfect lives, and the way the economic system strips people of their substance and passion in a horror movie directed by a 20 year old? any flaws elsewhere pale in comparison to the story of clark, an eponymous character that may already be lost in the chaos of our consumerist enshittified society.