As we inch closer to the halfway point of the year, there’ve already been a lot of good horror flicks on the 2026 movie calendar, but few are as unsettling as Kane Parsons’ Backrooms. Sure, the endless liminal spaces are creepy as heck, but so is the movie’s central character, Clark, who is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. When speaking to the actor, CinemaBlend asked him about one key thing regarding his storyline. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Why does Clark find comfort in the backrooms? It’s ridden with yellow wallpaper and rooms that only open into more rooms. And yet, he ultimately decides to live there alongside who knows how many terrifying creatures. So, during our interview, I asked Ejiofor this question. Here's what he had to say:
I think that his journey is a strange one with the backrooms, and it really does trace his own psychological unsettled nature and just where he is in his life, and how there's a kind of element of the backrooms, which makes me feel that it, it needs him and he needs it, and it's sort of mysterious. But, in that cinematic way, it's something that I understand as I watch it.
We know that Clark is going through a tumultuous time in his life. He’s been seeking therapy after a breakup that left him homeless and secretly spending nights at his own furniture store. He’s kind of at his wits' end when he finds the backrooms. Here’s what else the actor shared with us:
It's hard to articulate, but I can see how they sort of settle and understand each other in a way, which I think is one of the great and interesting and sort of deep mysteries about the backrooms and how it is related to psychology and the psychologies of the characters.
And in contrast to Clark, his therapist Mary seemed to feel powerless in saving her own mother in her childhood, and perhaps feels like she’ll have some control over her trauma if she can help him. Otherwise, why the heck would she follow him through a creepy basement? While Ejiofor told me that he absolutely doesn’t find comfort in backrooms himself, he could understand where his character is coming from, adding this:
I can see how somebody in that state of mind that he has got himself into, which I do empathize with. I don't necessarily relate exactly, but I empathize with where he is. I can sort of join those dots as to how his kind of chaos of his mind at that sort of point.
As a viewer of the film who certainly agrees with the wave of rave reviews Backrooms is getting, there’s something kind of perfect about this concept being introduced on the big screen with a character like Clark. While we’d expect most characters to get creeped out and turn around, the fact that he actually wants to stay there is part of why the movie works so well.
There’s an additional tension that is created when we know that Clark isn’t well and doesn’t mind exploring what else is in the seemingly endless space. Sadly, the backrooms end up being Clark’s demise and may have trapped his therapist forever as well.
If you’re looking to go down the rabbit hole of the backrooms, during our interview, we also talked to director Kane Parsons about filming the found footage elements of the movie. We also broke down what the ending means and why it may remind you of Severance. And if you're looking to take a trip to this unsettling place, you can catch Backrooms in theaters now.
