This is one of those films where I felt my mind going from a mild headache to being incredibly disgusted and disturbed. The question in my head was how messed up is Backrooms? Honestly, pretty messed up, with walls that continue to fade along with puppets thrown in to feel like A Blair Witch Projectblur. The camera does not hold steady as it portrays everything through a rocky motion. A promising premise that is ruined by the horrid tones. I was not pleased with Backrooms. This is hard for me to say, but I truly was not sold at all.

The plot revolves around a therapist and a patient. The “therapist” is Mary, played by Renate Reinsve, and the “patient” is Clark, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Clark’s stressor is the fact that his furniture shop is in hysterics with debts and strange technical maladies. A lot of it continues with lights dimming on and off and his financial crisis being quite bad, so he finds himself sleeping in the business’s building. However, there is a haunting that aspect that lingers in Backrooms. The walls have hidden aisles that are unexplained. With the beginning of the film feeling like The Blair Witch Project, it has that haunting approach. The execution though, fails in its overlap of events—primarily because the introductions make no sense.

Clark finds himself repeatedly walking through the hurdles of his walls. He thinks he is hallucinating. Mary believes that Clark is just emotionally depressed because of his stressful  situation. Everything from then on continues to fall downhill. The key to the haunting aspects of Clark’s business has weird elements written all over it.  It is portrayed through a shaky camera, a maze of walls, and questionable mental health written into the center of it all. The film made me feel like it was a psychological headache.

There is a moment where Clark is trying to find the many walls of his own nightmare. He does this by walking through the walls of his store. He is attempting to find the key that can solve his problems. In reality, he is living in his own worst nightmare. I felt a bit like his adventure was my own worst nightmare as I continued to watch. The true terrors are not defined well at all and lack purpose in Backrooms.

The focus is one that shifts so much. It tries to keep feeling creative and bizarre and I can appreciate that approach, but it is like it was all thrown into a pool and just placed in no real order. That is the problem with Backrooms, the terror is not solidified because its foundation is weak. Promising terrors, but not providing the delivery they deserve. Who is the one in the most danger? Is it Mary or Clark? Is Clark truly insane? He might be, however the approaches to terror and anxiety fall flat. There are shocking moments that have revolutionary feelings, however the contexts in which they are presented are mediocre. Backrooms isa maze that looks  confusing rather than being entertaining. I was more sold on the wonderful performance of Reinsve than the film itself. The acting is here is quite good, but the rest is a mess. I truly had a  hard time defining my experience with this one. Two out of four stars.