This past weekend was a huge moment for genre movies, considering two original horror film topped the box office —Backrooms and Obsession — with both directors hailing from YouTube, funnily enough. Backrooms has been earning rave reviews from critics by and large, but in a rare switch up, general audiences are the ones being much harsher on the movie. There’s one complaint in particular I keep hearing from people, and I want to talk about it.
The Popular Complaint About Backrooms
When I walked out of Backrooms’ premiere, I was surprised by how much scarier it is than what I expected. (I admittedly didn’t know much about Kane Parsons or liminal spaces before seeing it.) However, when I’ve since talked to others who went out to see it on opening weeked, and when looking around online, the same word came up over and over: boring. Pschaw! How dare!
Here are a few of many Twitter comments addressing the matter:
- “I will think it over tonight but my first impression is it's a very boring execution of an otherwise great idea. I enjoyed the YouTube episodes of Parson's take on The Backrooms that I saw. He is genuinely talented. But, for whatever reason, I genuinely think the story of the movie made the Backrooms less interesting.” - @TheLoneHandmaid
- “y’all i hate to say this but backrooms was lowk boring ngl” - @xaehdz
- “Cannot stress enough how terrible I thought it was. There are many bad horror films, but at least they keep you amused for how bad they are. But Backrooms was one of the most boring horrors I've ever watched. And it's 0% scary! What are people watching, I don't see it 😭” - @juanignacio_ac
- “i want to like backrooms but it was just so boring at times” - @sergiotbh
- “Just saw the Backrooms film. One of the most disappointingly boring films I've seen in a long time” - @Tiger_Rider_
Obviously, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, and I'm ultimately bummed that such a sizable segment of the audience sitting through Backrooms was not digging it the way I was. But I'm also befuddled by those reactions, as I can't comprehend what any of those people were expecting out of this movie. Especially after I went to YouTube myself and watched Parsons’ series that got him the movie deal with A24. This is not a case of false advertising.
Why I Don’t Think The "Boring" Take Is Fair
The marketing for Backrooms hasn’t exactly suggested that it’s going to be a scarefest full of big surprises and scares at every turn, right? The teaser I watched multiple times in theaters was literally just a montage of liminal spaces. It's totally fine if that kind of movie is just not interesting to someone, but I'd assume that person would expect more of the same thing.
I don’t think Backrooms is boring, but I also didn't go into it with heightened expectations. If any naysayers can watch Parsons’ short film below and then tell me why the movie wasn’t what you were expecting, I would be happy to hear it.
I can see where people might be coming from regarding the pacing, but I definitely didn’t think it was too long, and I liked feeling fully immersed in this concept while going into each weird room with the characters. To me, Backrooms is an original concept that I’ve never seen before from a horror film, and the tension was beautifully executed. I was more scared by the idea that the backrooms might be a comforting place if the wrong person steps inside, and found myself unsettled by the themes of unresolved trauma, stagnation and existential unease during and after watching it.
No, it’s not the kind of movie with mile-a-minute scares. It's a much more cerebral film, but I fully respected the ride for what it was and would gladly take it over a lot of horror movies as of late that have been fully predictable to me. And, if it gave us every answer there wouldn’t be talk of a franchise, but I also think it would also lose some of its emotional weight. Backrooms isn't a perfect horror film to me, but I just don't get the "boring" allegations myself.
