There are a variety of internet ideas floating around today that should not work as movies, and that is exactly what I thought going into “The Backrooms” 2026. At first glance, I wasn’t sure what to think, but I settled into my seat this weekend and went for it.
The story of “The Backrooms” focuses on a doorway inside a furniture store. From there, the movie moves into a strange world behind the wall. Inside the wall is a backroom with furniture, then more hallways, all with yellow walls and buzzing lights. This is out of place, but unsettling at the same time. You are not lost in the woods, you are not in a haunted house, but there is a nightmare landscape that comes through, not knowing how far something goes, and just keeps morphing into another place where you get lost and panic.
Atmosphere is the name of the game with “The Backrooms”. You are going to find yourself immersed in uncomfortable silence, buzzing, and other visually enticing elements. You eat your popcorn, you don’t think much at first, then a dread from the unknown and something that cannot be explained emerges. The rooms are designed to make you dizzy, with an ominous feel and a length that seems to go on forever.
The movie has some slow parts. Some viewers will give up on it, especially if you’re looking for cliché horror movie tropes. There aren’t many jump scares; no monsters are flying across the screen all the time, and the dread comes from mood and unexplained moments. The strength of the movie truly relies on whether or not you’re patient enough to make it through to the end.
I gotta give it to Chiwetel Ejiofor, his performance is great. Mark Duplass adds a bit of a human element, too, and Renate Reinsve gives a good performance as well. There is a nightmare within a nightmare, and an explanation that leaves you a little unnerved. That notion of “what if”? Comes to mind, and doesn’t leave you without forcing you to reflect on what you just saw.
Overall, “The Backrooms” is an interesting horror movie. It is not a scare fest in the traditional sense, but it is slow-moving with purpose. It unravels slowly, but it comes at you full force in the final acts. The final act will grab you, and while it’s not a gorefest, it has atmosphere like “The Shining” and is truly unnerving in its quiet, alluring moments of exploration. I recommend it greatly; it gets 4 out of 5 stars easily.
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