残念ですが、さようなら

In fact, I have so many thoughts it was all I was thinking about as I was falling asleep last night LOL. Thankfully horror does not stick to my brain, otherwise I might have had some Backrooms-flavored nightmares or something...

For obvious reasons, this post will contain spoilers for Kane Parsons' 2026 Backrooms movie, the one about the Backrooms. It might also contain spoilers for the YouTube series also by Kane Parsons. I will put it under a details cut to preserve those who have cuts open by default or who might want to comment on this post without getting spoiled, etc.

what if we were holding hands in the backrooms 😳

Okay, so, first of all, overall feelings: I enjoyed it! I had a good time watching, never got bored, and did get spooked a bunch (crushing my boyfriend's hand in the process LOL). The highlight was definitely the backrooms themselves, which I expected coming from Kane "backrooms" Parsons. IMO the first half was the strongest part and it kind of goes off the rails after the POV switch. That's the short of it.

Now for the long of it...

The good:

— As aforementioned, the backrooms themselves were incredible, and the way they were shot only enhanced that. Absolute masterpiece of fucked-up architecture. I loved the references to the most famous liminal space pictures, too: the OG backrooms photo, of course, with one specific shot that reproduces it near exactly, and also that one hotel inner yard with all the windows, and I feel like the part with the street with all the houses was that a bit. You can definitely tell who was behind that aspect of the movie. If I were to rewatch it, it would definitely be for that.

— I liked Clark a lot. I had to chew his character arc over a bit in the aftermath before I fully could appreciate it, but even before that I really enjoyed him, and ofc the performance of Chiwetel Ejiofor, which was amazing. I'll talk about him a little bit later, so I'll stick to this for now.

— The horror vibes were similar to that of the YouTube series (for the most part) in a very effective way. All the parts that were in found footage style were the best parts IMO, but especially when Clark gets Kat and Bobby to go check out the backrooms with him. That last shot, when the monster picks up the camera that Clark left behind while Kat screams at him to look, went so fucking hard.

— It wasn't gory (or not too much). I didn't expect it to be, because the YouTube series isn't either, but I still appreciate it.

— I did like the ambiguous ending a lot, with some caveats (that I will explain later).

The less good:

— I just did not vibe with the therapist that much, and it was kind of off-putting when suddenly she was the main character and Clark was the bad guy. I'm caricaturing a bit, but it still kinda gives off that vibe, IMO. I felt like the flashbacks of her childhood were underwhelming and didn't really endear me to her character that much. The way her story/POV was delivered just did not work on me. From the beginning, when the first therapist office scene happened, I feared the worst LOL. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but still, I don't know. It just wasn't really the angle I thought they were going with.

— Speaking of angle they were going with: I was disappointed by the utter lack of Async lore! The movie opens with an Async video, so I thought it would play a bigger role, especially considering how important it is in the YouTube series, but then it wasn't, really. We get a little more near the end, but by that point I was kind of beginning to check out of the movie (for reasons I will explore in the next point) and it was a bit "too little too late". Obviously this just wasn't what they were going for in the movie, which is fair, but I don't know. Also, I'm not sure if we're supposed to believe Phil is lying at the end or what, but the fact that he says they "discovered" the backrooms when in the YouTube series they pretty clearly created them, put me off. The backrooms being a manmade creation that gets out of hand is one of my favorite part of the Kane Parsons version. Though, like I said, Phil could be lying/obfuscating or he could also be lied to by his superiors. But since there isn't a lot of Async in the movie to begin with, it's hard to tell...

— Like I said in the overall feelings, I feel like it goes off the rails once Mary becomes the protagonist, specifically starting with the dinner scene. I like the dinner scene in spirit; it shows off Clark's final step toward "madness" pretty well, which I'll cover in the next part of what I guess is a review at this point LMAO, but it also (to me) oversteps into... goofiness, to be blunt. I realize the line between horrifying and silly can be thin (especially in this kind of set up) but I guess it just stopped working for me. I didn't mind Clark eating the still lives, or using them as lackeys kinda, though I did mind the numerous close-ups on them that completely ruined the tension/horror IMO, especially the electrician who was genuinely just goofy ahh incarnate. No, honestly, the breaking point for me was Clark opening the fridge and Kat's decapitated head being in there. I just don't get what the point of it was. Like, okay, Pirate Clark killed her. Why is Clark keeping her head in the fridge? Why make her death a cheap, barely scary "jumpscare" when Bobby's death was so well-executed? Then there's Clark scalping the Barbara still life to use as a wig for Mary to replay the earlier therapy scene. The therapy scene coming back was great, the scalp was just too much. And THEN Pirate Clark shows up, and once the initial shock wears off he just... looks ridiculous. He kills Clark and chases Mary and while there's still tension because you want her to survive, I guess, you see him so clearly that it just doesn't work anymore (for me, at least). Like, alright, he's an elongated, kind of deformed version of Clark's advertizing persona. Cool. I also didn't get why he bleeds when Mary bashes his head in. I suppose we find out after that it's a way more "accurate" human copy than the still lives when we see the Async MRIs, which I guess is scary? But I don't know. I liked the design, and the spirit of the design; I just found seeing it so clearly ruined the effect.

— On that last point: that the movie went so hard to explain stuff/make things clear and plain only for the ending to be so vague and open was fascinating, though not necessarily in a good way. I liked the aesthetic of the ending (in general, I loved the shots showing real life locations slowly getting "deprecated" as they kept being copied like a memory you relive over and over) but because the movie had swerved into showing so much of what made it scary, it just felt kind of... out of place, suddenly. (I still overall enjoyed it, though, mostly because the visuals were cool.)

And now, the weather the rest of my thoughts, uncategorized:

I've seen a lot of people, on Tumblr and otherwise, talking about how the backrooms as they are depicted in the movie are meant to be a Silent Hill-style personal hellscape, but that was not at all the impression I got from watching it. I guess I can sort of understand where it comes from: the whole "Clark goes to therapy" thing (and the strong focus on his mental state in general), the fact that he's an architect, the fact that most of the still lives are linked to Clark in some way, and of course the fact that the monster is revealed to be him (or a warped version of him; but he does, explicitly, call it himself when talking to Mary before he incapacitates her). I believe there is a parallel (that he's an architect is not a coincidence) but IMO it is strictly a Doylist parallel. The backrooms are copying what they have available in the area; the movie even calls out that they work like human memories, replicating events over and over until what's left has nothing much to do with the original. I did not feel that the backrooms were targeting Clark specifically; rather, he was drawn to them, and in the process perhaps more of him was incorporated into the design.

TBH, I'm of two minds about the memories thing. I like the idea of the backrooms replicating what they have available; I don't super like that they're not just replicating the physical reality but also, apparently, are influenced by what's in people's minds. Perhaps that's just because it doesn't seem to be the case in the original series though. But perhaps, if we imagine that the backrooms were first created (or discovered) in the 70s, it could have evolved past copying reality and into also copying memories and/or feelings, especially if we take into account that the backrooms seem to be a living being. (About that, I was sad that not only did my good friend Bacteria not feature, the sickness that's implied to exist in the series was also not involved at all, though some of the areas did seem to display the decay characteristic of it.)

Anyway, returning to Clark, I wasn't super taken with how "fast" he seems to make a heel-turn originally, but as I digested the movie I realized that it made sense. He snaps at Mary early on, when they do the roleplay thing for the first time; he stubbornly clings to the furniture store even as it's clearly not working out; he refuses to go back to his wife and resorts to living in the store, despite no evidence that his wife wouldn't just take him back; he pushes and manipulates Kat and (arguably) Bobby into coming into the backrooms with him knowing they're dangerous (and does not warn them of it, either). He's not a good person, but I'm always fond of characters who find comfort in their own issues. That scene of him admitting that he likes being in the backrooms is probably among my favorite non-horror bits. His character arc really worked for me, in the end. Maybe that's why I didn't take to Mary as much in comparison. Mary's flashbacks were interesting and fit the themes and tone of the movie... I just wish they were less nebulous, I guess.

All in all I did really enjoy the movie though, now that it's the next day and I've basically been thinking about it non-stop since then. I probably forgot to cover some of the points I've been musing on... but I think, if you like internet horror, and you don't mind that this isn't innovating the genre or anything (I would say the depiction of the backrooms is definitely innovative re: horror in general tho) I'd definitely recommend checking it out. I'm very glad I got to see it on the big screen.

ETA because I remembered hours later: absolutely fucking crazy to see Ulterior Motives credited at the end, I knew one of the songs playing had felt vaguely familiar in a way I couldn't place and it hit me like a fucking brick lmfao

ETA days later with more thoughts:

I'm STILL digesting the movie and honestly I wish I could watch it again right now LMAO, but I've been thinking about it more and more (sometimes just in the background of my mind, sometimes actually focusing on it) and I'd like to come back on some of the points I made in my immediate review:

— The backrooms lore in the movie VS the series: Upon scrawling through the wiki and other sources, I'm finding that maybe the backrooms having been created by Async was just an erronous assumption on my part. I am a bit sad about it because I do love the idea of the origin point of the backrooms being manmade, but apparently even Kane Parsons confirmed that Async discovered the complex rather than created it. So I was just wrong and the movie does fit into the established lore, regardless of how I feel about it.

— Mary: This is what I've been thinking about the most since first writing about the movie. I'm still of two minds about the dinner scene and the last third of the movie, but I'm connecting with her character more and more as time goes on. I still think she's underdeveloped, but I did see a lot of people make very good points re: mental health and also the way women are often taught they have to "fix" (usually men, but not just that; Mary's trauma clearly comes from her mom after all). Actually, the more I think about it the more I wish all the goofy aspects I dislike about the dinner scene were absent because I actually really like the dinner scene in spirit, especially how Mary admitting that she can't fix Clark is what finally soothes him (and dooms him as Pirate Clark immediately turns on him). Like, that part genuinely rules. I still don't love the chase scene and find it kind of out of place with how much it shows of Pirate Clark, but I can make my peace with it.

— The backrooms being influenced by memories instead of just the physical world: Still kinda torn about it because it's a cool concept that I would usually like but I still hate how everyone is jumping into the concept of the backrooms as a manifestation of your inner hell or whatever. It's not bad per se (I do love the idea of the backrooms as just a reflection of the real world's fuckedupness) it just feels kinda overdone, I guess. I'm curious to see where the series takes it, though!

This is for real for sure my last addendum about the backrooms movie. o7 I've been making icons for it and I'd like to make more once more screencaps come out. I've also been thinking about writing fic but we'll see; I have other stuff to take care of. Yippee!

With that out of the way... it's Friday, so here's a little Friday rundown:

( Fridayyyyyyy )


That's all folks!!!! Don't get lost in the backrooms. Or do, I'm not your mom.

I find that the real barrier to posting is thinking you need reasons to post. Like I need to have something to show or I need to have something structured to say. Then time passes and I feel like I've missed my chance and then it's too late and I feel bad and no posts happen. (This is, I suspect, what ended up getting in the way of finishing that Z-A review I wanted to post, which is actually still almost finished but at this point I'm like, is it even worth it to actually finish it??? I don't even really want to share it anymore. I've been in such a mood lately.)

Anyway.

First things first, 3weeks4dreamwidth having officially ended, new prompts are closed for the Pokémon prompt meme. I'd still like to maybe make fills for it at some point though, which is still open until the month ends. Although whether I'll manage to or not is anyone's guess. MANNN I had not planned to end up sounding so sour when I started typing this post lol...

I got officially diagnosed with ADD a week-ish ago. Yay. Very "tell me something I don't know" I guess but hey at least now I can get meds and stuff without having to resort to taking my partner's. I also didn't get selected to go to the one con I love and miss tabling at that I haven't been able to table at for the last two years. So that kind of fucked me up in the last few days lol. Then on top of that my laptop's keyboard is all kinds of fucked; the letter L stopped working which is a pain but whatever except a bunch of other keys also stopped working including the main Enter key which is preeeeetty important. Honestly I feel like I'm going to have to admit to myself that I just need a new computer soon but man do I not want to spend money on that...

There are some good news though (other than the ADD diagnosis) and even though I was so frustrated and ready to give up yesterday I'm trying to cling to my previously acquired motivation to keep working on comics even if I can't table at cons. Whatever. I'll find out some way to sell that shit online or whatever. It just sucks that the year I finally got myself to feel genuinely motivated to work on comics is the year they won't take me for my favorite convention lol. BUT ENOUGH RUMINATING...

Existing online has been bittersweet lately, independently from the whole not being picked for the con thing. I just don't really want to be around other people and when I try to do it anyway everything feels fake and forced. I'll get over it but for now it is kind of a bummer. I'm debating just taking an extended social media hiatus or something. I even closed my Tumblr askbox (not that anybody cares, probably...)

I remembered that I was going to try to post more art here and specifically NSFW art, so here's a special NSFW sketch that I may or may not line & color at a latter date (I have so much other stuff I need to be working on... Maybe as a break in-between finishing up my comic for this one zine...) I'll put it under a details tag so as to not jumpscare those who are on this post's page and not just reading it off my journal's main page or their reading list.

It's a drawing of Lysandre lying on the floor half-naked with his erect cock fully out of his fly; he's also covered in bruises and marks and folding his arms behind his back like they're tied up or something. Like POV you just beat up and kidnapped the leader of Team Flare... Something like that.

Hope you enjoyed this treat as your reward for reading my (somehow way more negative than originally planned) ramblings HEH. Maybe I should just use this journal as my longform comic making diary or something...