I liked it. I saw a lot of negative audience reviews, and I think they're from children that were excited by the pop culture backrooms craze. It isn't fast paced Hollywood horror, they didn't use jump scares, and you need to have some amount of media literacy to understand what the backrooms represent and how each of the characters interface with it. A bunch of kids showed up just wanting spooky scary liminal spaces and monsters, and while the movie is suspenseful, it isn't Hollywood blockbuster horror. I think the movie is much better for it. I highly recommend watching it. It takes a while to reveal the real themes at play and what the backrooms is a metaphor for, but I found it very rewarding. 9/10 for me.
this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2026
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So like original backroom, I like that, will have to go see it.
Exactly like it, because it's made by the original creator! A24 gave Kane a huge amount of leeway to tell the story his way, not the Hollywood way.
Kane said it's cannon to his youtube series. You can watch it on his Kane Pixels channel. It will give you a general idea of the type of horror you can expect. He's very good at building tension. The Oldest View and his current work People Still Live Here are good too.
The first Oldest View is my favorite. Simple, yet hits the surreal horror that all of this is grounded on. At one point the person stops and quietly says, "I shouldn't be here." That is core liminal fear.
Glad to hear they don’t rely on jump scares. They stress me out without adding anything to the movie. I might actually check this one out.
There are a couple of jump scares. The movie just didnt rely too heavily on them.
I appreciate the warning, thank you!
I'm a guy that knows nothing about backrooms, never read any story about it, never saw any post, I only knew that it's a very big yellow room. I only watched the movie because my friends invited me.
I must say, I loved this movie. Very well shot, amazing sound effects, amazing acting from both main characters and an incredible and intriguing atmosphere. I don't even watch and rarely enjoy horror movies, but the mystery behind the backrooms is very compelling.
I have no idea what the complaints about the movie are and I don't care, it was definitely a welcome surprise to the movies I watched this year.
I agree. I knew almost nothing about it going in but I thoroughly enjoyed it as well. It was surreal and hard to define. I don't think I could give a summary of it. It's worth checking out no matter your preferences on film.
I saw they gor an upcoming game on steam now. Good for them.