Backrooms (2026) Review: One Wrong Turn Through A Door And You’re Trapped In The Yellow Rooms Forever

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source: tv.lk21
Published: June 3, 2026 | Edited: September 6, 2026
Synopsis:

Backrooms (2026) is an sci-fi psychological horror film directed by Kane Parsons. This is his feature directorial debut and it was released on May 29, 2026. It is adapted from the viral YouTube series "Backrooms (Found Footage)" and the 2019 internet creepypasta. The story takes place in 1990. Clark is a furniture store owner whose life is a mess. His architecture career failed, his marriage fell apart, his store is not selling. While fixing an electrical problem in the basement of his store, he finds a wall that can be passed through. Behind it are endless yellow corridors, damp carpet, buzzing neon lights, and empty rooms. Clark manages to return to the real world, but his curiosity makes him invite 2 of his employees to explore again. At that point things start to go wrong, something attacks them.

Mary, Clark’s therapist, gets a strange message from the answering machine. She looks for Clark at that store and eventually ends up entering the Backrooms dimension as well. Inside, Mary has to face a “different” version of Clark who has gone insane and other “creatures”. The horror comes from the atmosphere of repetitive empty corridors, strange architecture, the feeling of being trapped forever and not from a monster chase film.

Critics praised the atmosphere and suspense of this film. The acting from Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve is also considered able to bring tension. Critics also said this is a good creepypasta adaptation. However, they also mentioned its shortcomings, starting from a minimal plot, odd and slow pacing, and an ambiguous ending. However score from Rotten Tomatoes: 88-90% Certified Fresh.


In my opinion:

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It didn’t live up to my expectations. Maybe my lack of knowledge about what the Backrooms are made me confused about the story of this film. Honestly, after watching Exit 8 (about anomalies), I became curious about Backrooms, because these 2 things are often mentioned and found in video games. I understand what an anomaly means and I understood the story when watching Exit 8, but not this Backrooms. I’m confused about determining what the actual meaning of this film is.

Well, if I force myself to conclude, this film portrays that the Backrooms are a manifestation of Clark’s desperation in his life. He’s stressed about his relationship with Barbara, he failed to achieve his dream of becoming an architect, and the furniture business he runs doesn’t seem to be going well, which is why the Backrooms were created. Unfortunately, Mary, Clark’s psychiatrist therapist, enters those Backrooms and becomes a victim of Clark’s insane mind. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

I’m not satisfied with this film, even though the visuals are already good. The mysterious, silent, and scary Backrooms atmosphere made me curious. But unfortunately, for me the story wasn’t made easy to understand. Even though I hoped there would be horror in that place, Clark trying to escape from the Backrooms, something cursed is there, then there’s a plot twist at the end, but sadly it turned out not to be like that. The audio and cinematography are just average, even though Chiwetel Ejiofor’s acting as the main character is good, the film still lacks of story. Apparently Kane Parsons has already confirmed that a sequel is being worked on, so the story will continue. Well, hopefully better luck next time.

For me this one is 6.5/10.

Knowledge Center:
From forum posts to global horror, where fear gets copied, pasted, and shared.

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From horror forums to internet legend, do you know the history of creepypasta? No, not food. Creepypasta is a short horror story that spreads across the internet. The name "pasta" comes from the term "copypasta" — text that is copied and pasted repeatedly on forums. So creepypasta literally means a horror story that gets "pasted" everywhere, with one goal: to give its readers chills. The 2000s were the early era of internet forums. Yes, creepypasta wasn’t born from books, but from forums. And 2000-2006 was the beginning of this phenomenon.

2003 is the birth of key forums. Forums like the 4chan /x/ board emerged — a discussion board dedicated to the paranormal. This is where many of the first stories appeared without an author’s name. Anonymous, to make it scarier. Then there was the Something Awful Forums. A comedy forum that also had a horror subforum. Many of the early creepypasta writers got their start here. Pioneer stories like "Ted the Caver", "The Russian Sleep Experiment", and "The Basement" appeared during this time. They were written in the style of reports or diary entries to make them feel "real." The hallmark of this era: short stories told through chat logs, emails, or police reports.

2007-2010 is the golden age and the birth of icons. This was when creepypasta leveled up because YouTube and blogs started to blow up. Three iconic figures were born in this period:
  • Slender Man - 2009, from the Something Awful forum. It started as a photo-editing contest. A tall, faceless figure in a suit. This was the first creepypasta to "truly" have a fandom, movies, games, and even real-world criminal cases linked to it.  
  • Jeff the Killer - 2008. The image of a pale face with a wide smile + "Go to sleep." It became a meme and a creepy wallpaper.  
  • Ben Drowned / Majora's Mask - 2010. A story about a cursed Zelda game. This marked the beginning of the "haunted game" sub-genre.
It was also during this year that Creepypasta Wiki (2010) launched. It became the official archive for all stories. From here, creepypasta began to gain real "power."

2011-2015 is the second golden age with YouTube narration. This was creepypasta’s second golden age, driven by YouTube narration. Horror narrators like Mr. Creepypasta, CoryxKenshin, and Lazy Masquerade started reading stories aloud. One story could get millions of views. As a result, many new writers emerged. Quality varied. Some were excellent, some were "shitpasta." New sub-genres appeared in this era:
2016-Present is the era of adaptation and commercialization. Creepypasta is no longer just stories. It has entered the world of entertainment with real potential. From games and movies (Slender Man), to TikTok popularizing "60-second stories" — horror had to be fast and straight to the point. And communities expanded across Reddit r/creepypasta, Discord, and Wattpad. Writers now have names and get paid. But fame came with challenges. Because there’s so much of it now, creepypasta has lost some of its "anonymous and terrifying" feel. Today it leans more toward modern horror fiction.

Why has creepypasta remained so popular? The popularity of creepypasta seems timeless. So what makes it so popular even today?  Easy access - It’s free and anyone can read it.  It feels real - The storytelling makes it feel like a true story, like "found footage."  It’s participatory - Anyone can write, alter, and spread it. For example, Slender Man has dozens of versions.

But what you need to underline, creepypasta is purely entertainment for us. Because this phenomenon was born and lives on the internet, even though it’s anonymous, every story always has a writer whose goal is scary entertainment. So don’t confuse it with an Urban Legend. Urban legends live on through word-of-mouth storytelling passed down through generations. They usually come from someone who claims to have witnessed it firsthand, though sometimes the source is also anonymous. The purpose of an urban legend is usually to convey a moral message.

Creepypasta is proof of the power of the internet. From a single forum post, it has grown into a global horror genre. It exists because we love stories, we love being scared, and we love sharing that fear. Creepypasta will never die. As long as there are people scrolling in the middle of the night, it will keep evolving.

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