Backrooms
Welcome to the Reel Fictious Reviews, where film reviews don’t simply take a passive back seat but grab eager readers by the imagination. Instead of reviewing a story, I bring you into a story of my own to discuss the films in review. I hope you find these entertaining and informing! To focus on just the reviews, look for the italicized text.
Follow movie manager Brad and his string of theatre characters as each story encompasses a different version of the characters in their local theatre, reflective of the film being reviewed. Each review is a story in and of itself. So enjoy and have fun at the movies!
This week, we see movie manager Brad as he and his fiance enjoy a movie night together, but apart. While one loves a good horror, the other is more set on Hugh Jackman based films. After the two meet back up in one of the theaters, something strange appears to happen. They . . . they can't seem to find an exit. Or really, any doors, even. And while they might not enjoy the exit all too much, I hope that you'll enjoy the story and imbedded review!
The Opening
"Hey", said Maddy in a loud whisper.
"Whoa, hey baby", I replied. "Your movie already done?"
"Yeah, mine's done. Hugh Jackman and sheep ... strange combo. But what about this", asked Maddy, looking to the rest of the empty theater. "I thought you said this would be a big hit."
"Oh, it is sweet girl. It's huge", I replied, rolling my head slowly over to the side while dramatically dragging my eyes along with it. "But being the movie manager here, I get the special privilege of booking private showings when a theater isn't in use. And wouldn't you know it . . . the last movie in this theater didn't have any tickets sold, so . . . I changed out the original film for this one, The Backrooms. It's almost over too, though."
"Can't you get in trouble for that", Maddy asked, sinking down into the seat and getting comfy. She was searching for my hand in the dark and quickly found it.
"Naw baby, naw", I said with all of the corny cockiness I could muster. "I'm . . . I'm the MOVIE .... MASTER". I looked back at the film ready to enjoy the end with the warmth of my love's hand in grasp.
"I um . . . I thought it was the "Movie Manager", she replied. I just kept quiet, letting the silence do the talking for me. "But seriously, you can get in big trouble for this, can't you?"
"Oh, immense", I quickly shot back. "But what's life without a little risk."
"Or a paycheck", she shot back. We both had a little giggle in the dark together, but the movie was coming to an end and I just settled back in my seat and relaxed. Until, that is, the projector image split into a strange assortment of hues followed by a big blue screen.
"Damn", I said in a hushed frustration. Standing up from my seat I had to release the warm embrace of Maddy's hand. "I'll be right back baby, give me a second."
I ran up to the doghouse, otherwise known as the projector room, and jumped in to turn the movie back on. From experience I figured I'd have to play with the projector for a bit to try and get the movie back to where it stopped, but it'd be worth it to finish the film. I pressed a few buttons on the digital interface, played with a few settings, and eventually it popped back on. I could see the difference in lighting from the projector lens and knew that it had come back on . . . but I also heard it start right back where it left off. Now that was strange considering I knew it should've started over again from the beginning. However, I also figured it was just a lucky tech break, so I ran back out to the film. Since there was only a minute or so left I just stood up at the top of the theater beside the doghouse. As soon as the credits began to roll I ran down the stairs and hit the floor running with the intent of meeting Maddy where the exit hall met the theater.
"Hey, where were you" asked Maddy, waiting for me at the theater's exit hall.
"I just stayed up there to finish it out. Sorry if that single minute without me was too much to bear, my love", I teased.
"Actually, why don't you just park yourself up there for the night and camp out with your precious movies. Might actually get some decent sleep tonight", she teased back.
"Oh, ha ha . . . come on, lets get out of here", I said as we turned and went down the hallway.
"Hey, when the movie came back on, did you notice anything weird", asked Maddy.
"No . . . I mean, the movie picked up right where it left off. It hasn't done that before. Usually it's a pain in the butt for us when the projector shuts down like that. We have to guess where the stopping point was, play with a little trial and error, then ..."
"Ok, ok . . . so, nothing else then", she asked.
"No, not really. What um . . . what did you mean?"
"Well, I don't know really. It just . . . when the film came back on the air felt more . . . quiet. More . . . still."
"Naw, can't say I felt that but, now that you mention it . . . a lot of the other films should've finished by now, and there should be a lot of people making their way out . . . but, it IS pretty quiet for a Friday
night", I said, looking at my watch.
night", I said, looking at my watch.
"Actually, yeah. Pretty sure I would've noticed if it was this bad. I would've definitely gotten one of my guys to clean this up before Dee saw it."
As we got closer and closer to the end I could make out what I saw more and more, but it still didn't make much since. The cart . . . it . . . it seemed to be halfway through the wall. The side with the handle was out and facing us, but the rest of the cart, it was just gone.
"Although ...", I thought to myself, my mind quickly trying to protect itself, "isn't the trash bin built into a tiny cubby space right there? I'm pretty sure it is. That's right . . . it's just tucked in. Someone must've opened the little cubby door and stuffed it in or something".
I was quick to relief and even quicker to round the corner before Maddy had a similar lapse in sight. But as we were approaching the exit I realized, at the corner of my right eye, that the trash bin area was beside the doorway exit in this particular theater . . . meaning, that the bin . . . it, it was . . . "
We emerged from the theater's hallway and into the main hallway. Silence. Compete and absolute silence. Not even three feet past the doorway and we were anchored to the ground, stuck staring from side to side with our hands clinching one another, tighter and tighter with each passing silent second. No one. Not a single person. Not a single sound. The theater was an empty box of light and carpet, and we were the last ones left to roam.
"Brad", said Maddy, "what the hell is going on?"
My mind raced to find an answer, even a hollow one. I knew that every millisecond that passed without an explanation of some kind, it would just send her deeper and deeper into a darker sense of dread than she was already in.
"Nothing, baby, it's nothing", I said with absolute confidence. I'm a decent actor myself, I guess. "It's probably later than my watch says and the staff is just gone. Jessica and Lei are probably still in the kitchen wrapping up the closing duties."
"You and your stupid watch", said Maddy, pulling her phone out. "No one uses those anymore, we have . . . ", she trailed off.
"What", I asked, looking at her and focusing my ears as hard as I could for any distant rumblings in the kitchen.
"Um, this ... this doesn't make . . . look at this! Look at my phone", she said, bringing her phone up to view. I looked and saw her credit card, the one that was always in the little pocket pad on the back of her phone, now stuck through her phone. Somehow the phone and the card, they were still in one piece but now they seemed to be merged. Fused together. Without thinking about any "hows" or "whys", or what could've happened to it, I just needed to move. We needed to move.
The main hallway was also dirty, just like the hall we left. It was littered with full and half full trash bags lining the walls with a few spots here and there. Tons of random rubbish lay atop the black trash bags like trashy sprinkles. Pieces of soda coated soggy popcorn laying on top and around the tiny trash heaps. Dented soda cups and popcorn buckets spewn across the hall in random placements with stains I hadn't seen before spotting the floor.
"Wh....what is this", asked Maddy, now holding my arm with both hands and pressing close to me.
"I um . . . uh . . . " I stuttered some to give my mind a second to catch up with my eyes. Then a desperate thought came to me. Something I knew wasn't true but was just true enough to keep Maddy and I focused and somewhat calm for a few minutes more while we could explore what was going on. "You know what it probably is . . . the trash compactor."
"Trash compactor? What are you talking about", she asked, still holding tight and surveying the hallway left to right, over and over.
"It's happened before. When the trash compactor is broken or full, sometimes the trash gets backed up into the trash hallway".
"So, what . . . this is the "trash hallway"? Right here, where everyone walks?"
"I mean, no" I replied, starting to walk her down the hallway to move into the adjacent hallway. "But whoever is working tonight might've stacked it all out here instead of the trash hallway. All I know is, it wasn't on my watch, so I won't be getting . . .
As we rounded the corner to the adjacent hallway we both beheld what at first seemed a perfect reflection of the hall we just left, but it just . . . it didn't stop. The hall just went on as far as we both could see, with theater entrances spotting up in similar pattern, one after the other, going down both sides. And while we both simply stood there, stunned and numb to what world lay around us, my hand found the little air bound palm of my love standing beside me. I embraced her hand so as to give her some comfort in what I knew to be a mind shattering reality set before us. I don't know if it helped . . . I hope it did.
"No, no, no .... Brad, what is this, what is this, what is this", she kept repeating as I squeezed her hand in mine and pulled her in close to my chest. My left hand came up to gently squeeze the back of her head so as to soothe her in any way I could.
"Baby, its ok. Ok. It's ok. We're ok. You're breathing, and I'm breathing. We're not in any pain, there is no danger, and we're together. Right! We're just scared right now. That's all. We're just scared".
"But, wha...wha...what is ... what is happening", she replied with an uncontrollable sob.
"Ok, scared AND confused", I thought to myself. I began running through anything I could ration out in my mind to explain this. Even the most remote explanations would do, if only to settle us some. I could adapt and handle most things, even this thing . . . whatever it was . . . but I don't know if I could handle seeing her crack like this right in-front of me. I've heard of pocket universes and stuff, but that's all I could think of. Suddenly, it hit me...
"Baby . . . baby", I said, now with my hand under her chin to slightly rise her gaze from my chest unto my eyes, "I don't know if its the same thing, or if it's connected . . . but, this is almost like the movie I just saw. The Backrooms".
Just as I was preparing to try and tell her about the movie, a loud and aggressive clanging of metal came from behind us on the left side of the hallway, toward the theater's dine-in kitchen. I spun my body around so fast and hard that I nearly swept Maddy off of her feet along with my arms, causing her to nearly stumble. Both of us were steadfast and looking through the little liminal space between the kitchen doors and the hall we stood in, looking past that little hall and at the darkened window hole of the two-way door. Nothing could be seen. Not a shadow, or the shadow of a shadow. Just enveloping pitch darkness with the continued clanging of metal as they danced around the cement flooring of the kitchen.
After a few moments of staring into the tiny circular abyss, a louder clang than the ones before shattered through the air. The door itself came alive by the jumping out a bit, as if something struck it hard from the other side. The sound alone made us jump, but the moving of the door made us take a few steps back. For a second, the sounds came to a stop. As the door slowly crawled back down to a standstill, I thought I'd have a moment to think. Unfortunately, as soon as the door died down to a stationary slate of steel hinged upon the wall, something began slowly moving it outward and toward us. Something, from the other side. The side in shadows. Whatever it was, it scraped along the steel door with an eerie screech, like nails on metal, though we still couldn't see what was emerging from inside. And before we could, I felt Maddy fall limp in my arms and nearly fall to the floor. It was too much for her, and her mind retreated back into the dark depths of unconscious bliss to escape what horrors lay ahead.
The Review
Running with a person cradled in my arms wouldn't get us very far. Even if she's only 120lbs soaking wet, running like that wouldn't last very long. And whether it made sense or not . . . and it didn't . . . I was looking down a very long hallway. So, I threw her over my shoulder and secured her weight as my right arm anchored down her legs while they laid across my chest. Like a cross-body bag, she was tightly strapped down to me, and I could run!
Sprinting down the hall I knew there was nowhere to go but straight. If I could sprint far enough down in the next fifteen seconds or so, maybe whatever was coming out wouldn't even see me. Or, maybe it wouldn't care to chase. But to calm my own nerves, as I had been neglecting what this situation was doing to my own mind, I figured I should focus on what I was going to explain before she passed out.
"So yeah, anyway baby, this is so much like this movie I just saw . . . The Backrooms. Wild movie! Based
off of another YouTuber and, in my opinion, another big horror hit. I'd say that um, that May has been an amazing horror month for 2026!"
 |
| Original Backrooms shot |
I figured that I'd run past a few more theater openings, then do a quick check behind me to see if we were in the clear. If so then I could either set her down or maybe just start walking. But still, just a little further to be sure.
"You see, a lot of people might not get the concept of the film but it's pretty simple. A company that specializes in magnetic technology, originally creating MRI machines and such, they accidently create a machine with magnetism technology so strong that it acts as a singularity event. Like a black hole. It apparently just punches right through the fabric of space and time, opening a door to some crazy pocket universe. And this universe, it is trying to copy our universe. Our reality. But, it's like . . . it's like this universe is learning how to copy us during the actual process of copying us. Almost like really bad AI. Like if you type in a description of yourself to an AI engine, and then ask it to create "you", then you might show up with three hands or a wonky eye drooping down your nose. Except, these things . . . they're alive . . . in a sense. Anyway, only reason I'm telling you this, baby, is because it's literally explained within mere seconds of the film and honestly, if you blink you'll miss it. Then you'll be as confused as us right now".
I finally took a small break to look behind me, and what I saw . . . just a few hundred feet back or so . . . it . . . well, I couldn't keep running straight down that hall anymore. I had to take a chance of losing whatever it was in one of the theaters. Hiding behind some seats, getting to higher ground, creating obstacles between us and . . . it. Something to stave off the grizzly end racing down the hall toward us! "Ok . . . ok, ok, ok", I said repeatedly to try and stay calm while racing up through the entrance hall of the theater.
"Um, so yeah . . . yeah the uh, the movie's logic isn't really all that important really. It's super simple but it's the concept you're meant to enjoy. The thought of an everyday average person, like you or me, finding a way into another world so strange and infinite. It's absolutely terrifying and mesmerizing all at once."
I rounded the corner of the first part of the theater entrance hall and into the hall that opens up into the theater, but to my amazement when I made that corner I could see a brightly lit open space in place of a dimly lit theater. But no matter, I just knew I had to keep going with that thing close to the entrance hall itself. So, on I ran, and into what appeared to be the lobby of the theater itself, though vastly larger and with no tables or stools in sight. Just a large empty room. And in place of the exit doors were the soda dispensing machines, though pinned up against a wall of some kind that was on the other side of the glass windows. Windows that would normally expose the outside light or night to the lobby, but now completely encased by some stalwart barrier. I didn't have time to analyze or think, I just heard the hauntingly familiar screeching of metal on metal, as if something fierce were gliding up the ramp behind me and sliding a knife along the metal rail of the wall. I bolted to the right of me and ran across the open floor, faintly spotting a small, tall opening in the wall ahead. It was the entrance to the concessions stand. Usually much much wider so as to serve a multitude of guests, this was but wide enough to let a single person through. Even if it's a person carrying another person.
Looking to my right I saw it emerge from the hallway. It . . . it looked like Jessica. My fellow kitchen manager who I work with at the theater, except . . . she was, wrong. There was a twist in her face that rounded her features around her head. Things like her eyes, her nose, and her mouth, they were slightly drooping downward in a mad spiral. In fact, one of her eyes looked like it was completely behind her head. She was a bit taller than her original self and with long gangly hair falling around in a wild haze of black. The uniform she wore was that of the theater's uniform, burgundy red with some black trimming on the sleeves and collar, but it was tattered and burnt all over, covered in oil stains and rotten food. Her hands were like what I had seen before, when she began to crawl from the kitchen, long and twisted with fingers intertwined so painfully. They were covered in glops of rotten food and sauce, with one of her hands holding a butcher's knife . . . no doubt the source of the insidious screeching. And her skin . . . so oily looking while covered in burns, cuts, and smut all around. She saw me and immediately charged like a wild animal bellowing what sounded like the haunting rendition of a greeting. "HElllLLoOOoooooooooo, guuEESSsst", it screamed.
On instinct alone I let go of my grip on Maddy's legs and set her down in front of the thin opening. Acting swiftly, I immediately hopped over her to clear the opening on the other side. Knowing I had mere seconds to save my love, I spun around and dove down through the tiny opening to grab her arms, pulling her with all my strength through and through. As I pulled her through, I lost my footing and stumbled back into the wall behind me, crashing my head hard against the surface with a thunderous clunk. It echoed throughout my skull like a symphony of pain. After a few seconds of rubbing the back of my head I realized that while I had pulled her clear through, she hadn't come through far enough that this ... thing ... couldn't reach her. And it had. Maddy's body was sliding away from me, slowly, and I saw the Jessica creature's hand on her ankle, firmly gripped. My hand darted down and gripped her own while I adjusted my body to the side so I could start stomping on the creature's hand. In a wild frenzy I stomped and stomped, probably hitting Maddy in the collateral but hitting the mark for the most part. This was do or die, so I knew I couldn't be gentle this time. And it work! The creature let go, squealing. It starred at me while I threw eyes right back at it. Suddenly it disappeared, and we were alone.
Sitting there I just cradled her body on my lap while I sat on the ground. Breathing hard, head heavy with pain, I decided to keep going with my review of the movie. Again, simply something to calm my nerves and balance my mind.
 |
| Chiwetel Ejiofor |
"The uh . . . the acting was superb, as it should be with Chiwetel Ejiofor. His performance is top-tier in anything he does. Grabbing him for this went a long way for the film. Structure of the story was simple, but effective, and the setting was the most perfect version of the source material that it could have been. Everything was visually perfect. All in all, this was an amazing horror film in a class of horror that is emerging more and more. Liminal horror is becoming a new favorite genre of mine, I think. Or, it was . . . until this", I said with a giggle. "When we get out of here I'll have to show you some other good liminal horror. Like Grave Encounters, one and two, or The Shinning . . . classic liminal horror. Even It Follows has a liminal feel to it. Maybe even Old Boy . . . even though it isn't really horror."
The Closing
After talking film for a bit longer, to myself really as Maddy was still knocked out, I had calmed down to a point that I could carry her once more. After hours and hours of walking through endless twists and turns of theater halls and open spaces . . . at one point finding a bathroom inside a section of the kitchen (which would definitely not pass inspection) . . . I heard the screeching once more. At first I thought it was behind me, but hearing it more and more, it felt like while we were in the middle of another endless hall, that it was seeping in from every theater entrance around us. I couldn't lock onto where it was coming from, but what I felt was that standing still much longer would see us both become playthings of that roaming nightmare that looked like Jessica.
There was a theater entrance up ahead that looked different from the others. The small portion of the walls in that hall looked like the walls found in an office rather than the walls you'd find in the halls of a theater entrance, so that was where I was going. Humans fear what they don't understand, and to that end a few hours in this place nulled those fears, replacing it with hope whenever something different happened by in these forsaken halls.
My reaction was immediate and I sprinted forward with no plan, only action. I immediately knew I was about to trip as my feet seemed to have had a plan to move before my mind, and the two didn't quite sync up. But as the door in front of me drew closer and closer near, I knew that even if I tripped I could still stash Maddy away behind the door to save her while this thing took me over from behind. But alas, I didn't even get that far. About halfway through the severed office space, I overcorrected my feet and landed the right foot directly in the path of my left, hooking one another and sending Maddy and I both flying through the air. Hearing the heavy breathing of the creature right behind me I knew I was dead, but I may save Maddy in the process. My body naturally twisted in the air after the momentum of tripping over my twisted anchored feet came undone . . . like releasing a pencil in the air after twisting it around and around in a rubber band. Upon that twist I saw the Jessica creature's face but only feet from my own, its twisted hands coming close to gripping my body. And just like that, we flew through the door.
Suddenly, I was fumbling down a cushioned couch and landed hard on the ground of a brightly lit room. Maddy had fallen on top of me in the midst of the mid-air twisting and came to a cushioned crash on my body. Looking around I saw an office room. Everything where it was supposed to be and nothing half-way gone. While still lying on the ground I let my head fall back as I raised my chin and let my eyes wonder behind me. Dee was at her desk, my theater's general manager. She sat there staring at me, pen in hand and just slightly slouched over her desk. I started to sit up and heard Maddy making sounds for the first time in hours. She was finally coming to.
I sat us both on the couch and looked behind us at the wall we apparently just came through. It seemed solid but when I poked my finger at it, my finger went right though. That haunting sound of Jessica's copy then shot through, the sound permeating the wall as I yanked my finger back in a hurry. Maddy began to stir and she slowly awoke. Startled she looked around.
"Whoa, wait, wha . . . what happened. Where are we", she asked, looking around and then at me.
"Don't uh, don't worry baby", I said, looking at her with a warm smile of relief. "It was just a really, really bad dream".
I looked over at Dee, still frozen in place and with eyes wide open. "Hey Dee, I uh . . . I think you should see this movie we got playing right now. The Backrooms".
Dee just looked at us both, then looked slightly above at the wall, and then back at me. "Man, what the FU..." ...
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