1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,720
Imagine you're waiting for a 
delayed flight in an empty 

2
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,920
airport terminal at like 3 in 
the morning. 

3
00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:08,160
Oh man, the absolute worst 
feeling. 

4
00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,200
Right, the muzak is just looping
out of those cheap ceiling 

5
00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,000
speakers and the fluorescent 
lights are humming with this 

6
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,520
dull electric buzz. 
Yeah, and there is absolutely no

7
00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,000
one else around. 
Exactly. 

8
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,280
You're completely safe 
physically speaking, and yet 

9
00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,080
your brain starts screaming at 
you like I shouldn't be here. 

10
00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:28,800
Something is fundamentally wrong
with this environment. 

11
00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,159
It's that immediate instinct of 
just wanting to escape. 

12
00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:36,200
Yes, and welcome to another deep
dive here on Stories in Motion. 

13
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,760
Today, we're talking about a 
movie that takes that exact 

14
00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,160
feeling of accidentally clipping
out of reality, stretches it 

15
00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:45,120
into Infinity, and just, well, 
traps you inside. 

16
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:46,600
It really does. 
It's an experience. 

17
00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,720
But before we get into the 
architecture of our own 

18
00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,800
nightmares, I need you to do 
something for me right now. 

19
00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,640
Wherever you are listening or 
watching, drop a comment and 

20
00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,560
tell us which movie or show you 
want us to review next. 

21
00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,320
We actually read all of them, 
and your suggestions 

22
00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,960
legitimately shape this show. 
They really do. 

23
00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:06,680
Also, make sure you hit follow 
on the platform you're using 

24
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,800
right now and go over to 
Letterboxed and follow our 

25
00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,040
account there too. 
Yeah, just search for stories in

26
00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:12,960
motion. 
All one word. 

27
00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:15,720
You'll see exactly what we're 
logging and rating in real time 

28
00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,880
because we log a lot. 
We do, and if you look at our 

29
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,160
letterbox today, you are going 
to see a very high rating for 

30
00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:24,720
the film we need to talk about 
right now. 

31
00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:26,600
Oh, absolutely. 
I mean, we just walked out of 

32
00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,360
the theater and we came straight
to the Mikes because we are 

33
00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,640
both, frankly, we are unsettled.
Genuinely, productively 

34
00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,560
unsettled, we bought our 
tickets, sat in the dark for a 

35
00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:43,600
24's latest experimental horror 
film, Backrooms, and we walked 

36
00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,200
out completely silent. 
Literally didn't say word to 

37
00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,480
each other for like 10 minutes. 
Not a. 

38
00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,000
Word We've spent the last few 
hours just writing up our 

39
00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,840
thoughts, trying to figure out 
exactly why this movie gets 

40
00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,480
under your skin the way it does.
Because it it really does crawl 

41
00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,560
right under there. 
It does, because I have to 

42
00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,320
admit, going in I was incredibly
skeptical. 

43
00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,000
Oh, completely. 
I mean, it sounded like a 

44
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,880
gimmick on paper. 
Right when I heard a 24 gave a 

45
00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,880
feature film deal to a 20 year 
old director based on like a 4 

46
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,400
Chan meme and some YouTube 
videos, I thought OK this is 

47
00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,520
going to be an overhyped feature
length TikTok. 

48
00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,120
Yeah, you expect it to be super 
hollow? 

49
00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,160
I was so ready for it to be 
hollow. 

50
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,040
But instead, Kane Parsons, who 
again is only 20 years old, has 

51
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,480
somehow engineered a masterpiece
of modern dread. 

52
00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,440
It's mind blowing. 
We are ready to call it This is 

53
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,040
the best horror film of the 
Year. 

54
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,120
OK, let's unpack this, because 
to understand how a 20 year old 

55
00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,680
pulled this off and why this 
setting feels so inherently 

56
00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,400
disturbing, we have to trace the
origins. 

57
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,880
Right, because this setting 
didn't just spring out of a 

58
00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,000
screenwriter's imagination. 
No, not at all. 

59
00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,680
No, it has a deeply bizarre 
origin story rooted entirely in 

60
00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,280
Internet lore. 
And that's like vital to 

61
00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,400
understanding how the movie 
works on a subconscious level. 

62
00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,680
Exactly. 
It all starts with one single 

63
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,760
photograph. 
It wasn't a movie set, it wasn't

64
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,560
a painting. 
It was a real picture taken 

65
00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,880
during the renovation of a 
furniture store in Oshkosh, WI 

66
00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:09,080
Which. 
Is just so random. 

67
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,040
So random, but if you've spent 
any time online over the last 

68
00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:14,640
decade you have probably seen 
it. 

69
00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,200
It's a shot of an entirely empty
room with that. 

70
00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:20,600
Awful carpet. 
Yes, the carpeting looks damp 

71
00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,920
and musty, like it would squelch
if you stepped on it, and the 

72
00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:26,960
ceiling has those cheap 
rectangular fluorescent panels 

73
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,760
that you see in old sad office 
buildings. 

74
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,720
And then there are the walls. 
The walls, They're covered in 

75
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,880
this very specific, nauseating 
shade of faded urine yellow 

76
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,160
wallpaper. 
It's an aggressive, depressing 

77
00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,840
color. 
It's it's the color of a waiting

78
00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:43,320
room where you're about to get 
bad news. 

79
00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,560
Wow, yes, that's exactly it. 
It almost hurts to look at for 

80
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:48,840
too long because it feels so 
uniquely stagnant. 

81
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,680
It really does, and this single 
image somehow makes its way to 4

82
00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,760
Chan and then it just spreads 
everywhere. 

83
00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,520
Like wildfire. 
Yeah, and it essentially births 

84
00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,800
this entire cultural phenomenon 
known as liminal space 

85
00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:02,840
aesthetics. 
Which is such a fascinating 

86
00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,000
concept. 
It is. 

87
00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,360
It's this very specific hyper 
modern dread of empty or 

88
00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,240
abandoned places that feel 
forlorn, like the bed shopping 

89
00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,720
mall I mentioned. 
Or, you know, a long, windowless

90
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,880
hotel hallway. 
Yeah, places that feel vaguely 

91
00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,440
haunted, but not by ghosts or 
monsters. 

92
00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:20,640
Right. 
It feels like something just 

93
00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:22,400
left the room right before you 
walked in. 

94
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,640
Or worse, like something is 
waiting to arrive and you are 

95
00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,520
trespassing in the space 
between. 

96
00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,400
What's fascinating here is how 
that aesthetic taps into a 

97
00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:36,400
universal psychological trigger.
A liminal space is by definition

98
00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:38,600
a threshold A. 
Place of transition. 

99
00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,040
Exactly. 
Hallways, waiting rooms, 

100
00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:45,320
stairwells, airport terminals. 
Evolutionarily speaking, you 

101
00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,360
aren't supposed to stay there. 
You're supposed to keep moving. 

102
00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:48,800
Right. 
Their entire architectural 

103
00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,280
purpose is movement from point A
to point B. 

104
00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,640
So when you were forced to 
linger in a space designed 

105
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:58,480
solely for passing through, your
brain registers a mismatch. 

106
00:04:58,480 --> 00:04:59,880
It's like a glitch in the 
software. 

107
00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,560
It recognizes that something is 
fundamentally wrong with the 

108
00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,200
environment. 
The lack of purpose becomes a 

109
00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,680
threat in itself. 
And Kaine Parsons recognized the

110
00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,640
cinematic power of that exact 
feeling early on. 

111
00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,360
I mean in 2022, when he was just
16 years old. 

112
00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,840
Insane. 
He took that single Oshkosh 

113
00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:19,680
photograph and expanded it into 
an intricate series of short 

114
00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,320
films on YouTube. 
He really built a whole world 

115
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,760
out of. 
It he did, he figured out how to

116
00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:30,120
use this incredibly effective 
degraded VHS grain effect and 

117
00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,760
just animated a camera wandering
through room after room of with 

118
00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,400
these endless yellow corridors. 
And there was barely any 

119
00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:37,680
narrative. 
Barely any. 

120
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,880
Just quiet, escalating horror. 
And it garnered 10s of millions 

121
00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,960
of views because it bypassed the
logical brain and went straight 

122
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,040
for that psychological mismatch 
we just talked about. 

123
00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,080
It tapped right into the 
collective unconscious. 

124
00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,160
Yeah, he translated a niche 
Internet aesthetic into a 

125
00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,720
universal cinematic dread which 
caught the eye of a 24, leading 

126
00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,280
them to hand a teenager a 
feature film deal. 

127
00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,920
But here is where the transition
from YouTube to a feature film 

128
00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,160
usually falls part. 
Almost always. 

129
00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,760
Because an infinite empty space,
no matter how creepy, isn't a 

130
00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:10,800
movie on its own. 
You can't just have an empty 

131
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,600
room for two hours. 
You'd fall asleep. 

132
00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,120
Exactly. 
The brilliance of Parsons 

133
00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,120
direction here is recognizing 
that a space designed to feed on

134
00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,920
misery requires a profoundly 
miserable person to anchor it. 

135
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,240
You need a consciousness 
unraveling inside of it. 

136
00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:27,640
Which brings us to the 
protagonist, Clark. 

137
00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,440
And this is exactly where the 
film evolves from an Internet 

138
00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,000
gimmick into a profound piece of
cinema. 

139
00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,920
It really is Chew Telegia 4 
plays Clark and we have to spend

140
00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,200
some time on this performance 
because it is a master class in 

141
00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,840
grounded misery. 
Oh, he is phenomenal. 

142
00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:47,800
He plays this divorced guy who 
owns a cheap, ugly furniture 

143
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,600
store called Captain Clark's 
Ottoman Empire. 

144
00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,000
Just the saddest name. 
And his life is just 

145
00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,320
aggressively sad. 
He's living in the back office 

146
00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,000
of the store because his wife 
kicked him out. 

147
00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,280
Yeah, he's morosely bearded. 
He's quietly boozing from a 

148
00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,720
flask in the middle of the day. 
Just simmering with this thick, 

149
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,200
heavy resentment. 
There is a specific physical 

150
00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:10,560
choice EG 04 makes that I found 
brilliant. 

151
00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,480
There's this moment where he is 
shooting a local television ad 

152
00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,040
for his store and he's dressed 
in this cheap pirate costume. 

153
00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,680
Oh God, that scene. 
And he doesn't play it for broad

154
00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,600
comedy, he plays it with this 
dead eyed, heavy litted 

155
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,760
exhaustion. 
Yes, he makes you physically 

156
00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:29,400
feel the weight of a man whose 
life has become a bad joke that 

157
00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,240
he doesn't know how to laugh at.
It's so pathetic and mundane, 

158
00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,480
and it grounds the dread 
perfectly. 

159
00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,680
Before we ever get to the cosmic
horror, we are forced to sit in 

160
00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,160
the most grounded terrestrial 
misery possible. 

161
00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,040
It's almost harder to watch than
the horror stuff. 

162
00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,000
Totally. 
We also get these incredible 

163
00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,120
therapy scenes early on that set
the psychological stakes. 

164
00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,200
He's seeing a therapist, Doctor 
Mary Klein, played by Renee 

165
00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,000
Reinzer. 
It's so good in this. 

166
00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,360
So good and they are doing this 
role play exercise where Clark 

167
00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,600
is re enacting an argument with 
his ex-wife. 

168
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:05,120
He's just projecting his angry 
sob story onto the therapist. 

169
00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,040
The contrast Parsons builds in 
those therapy scenes is vital 

170
00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:10,640
for how the rest of the movie 
functions. 

171
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:12,880
How so? 
Well, you have Renee Rinesvey 

172
00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,520
bringing this incredibly 
clinical, sterile reality to her

173
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:18,760
performance. 
She is the voice of reason, 

174
00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,840
sitting in this quiet, orderly 
office with a ticking clock. 

175
00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,800
Taking precise notes. 
Yackley taking notes and trying 

176
00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,200
to neatly categorize Clark's 
messy, sprawling emotions. 

177
00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:32,919
She provides A rigid structure. 
And that clinical reality acts 

178
00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:35,840
as an anchor. 
It makes the surrealism of what 

179
00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,440
happens next hit so much harder.
Because the horror isn't just 

180
00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,559
spatial, it carries A deeply 
psychological charge. 

181
00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,800
Exactly when the rigid structure
of his real life finally breaks,

182
00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,000
it shatters completely. 
So how does he actually enter 

183
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,440
the back rooms? 
I loved this part because it 

184
00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:54,160
wasn't some mystical 
incantation. 

185
00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,320
No spellbooks or anything. 
No, he's just trying to fix the 

186
00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,000
janky fluorescent lighting in 
his furniture store. 

187
00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,280
He's up on a ladder near the 
ceiling, drawn to a weird seam 

188
00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:04,960
in the wall, and he just slips 
through it. 

189
00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,040
There's no magical portal, no 
lightning strike, no dramatic 

190
00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:10,200
music cue. 
Nothing, he just falls out of 

191
00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,280
reality and into the back rooms.
It's the mundanity of the 

192
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,160
transition that makes it so 
terrifying. 

193
00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,920
And suddenly he's in that space 
from the photograph. 

194
00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,720
A vast empty room with the 
yellow wallpaper. 

195
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:23,920
Which connects to another room, 
and another, and another. 

196
00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,120
It's endless. 
There are stacked chairs, random

197
00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,920
piles of laundry, square holes 
in the floor acting as 

198
00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:31,920
passageways. 
It spreads in every direction 

199
00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,080
with absolutely no visible end. 
And because EGF 4 has built such

200
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,760
a miserable, broken character, 
you actually buy his reaction. 

201
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,080
A normal person would be 
screaming, clawing at the wall 

202
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:44,960
to get back. 
Panicking completely. 

203
00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:46,720
Right. 
But Clark is shocked. 

204
00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,520
And then there's this disturbing
resignation. 

205
00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,680
To him, it feels genuinely 
earned. 

206
00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,320
Honestly, a man this completely 
lost in his own life, of course 

207
00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:56,360
he'd walk through a wall if 
given the chance. 

208
00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,640
Yeah, he has absolutely nothing 
to go back to in the real world 

209
00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,480
except a pirate costume and a 
failed marriage. 

210
00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,520
So if he just starts walking. 
He is searching for a catharsis 

211
00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,160
of meaning, even if that meaning
turns out to be a nightmare, 

212
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:11,800
which brings up the core tension
of his journey. 

213
00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:13,800
Right. 
Has Clark found a physical 

214
00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,880
portal to another dimension, or 
has he just entered his own 

215
00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,360
personal hell? 
And the movie just smirks and 

216
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,160
asks, are those two things even 
different? 

217
00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:26,040
I love that, but once he is 
inside, the way Parsons directs 

218
00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,160
the actual experience of this 
maze is just staggering. 

219
00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:30,960
The atmosphere is thick enough 
to choke on. 

220
00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,400
When we were organizing our 
notes, right after the credits 

221
00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,440
rolled, we wrote down the phrase
moldering dread, and I fully 

222
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:39,680
stand by that. 
It's the perfect description. 

223
00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,320
It's a film that demands to be 
physically experienced rather 

224
00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,960
than just watched. 
Mostly because it completely 

225
00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,600
eschews the cheap tricks of 
modern horror. 

226
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:52,360
Right, there are 0 jump scares. 
Known There is no cat jumping 

227
00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,240
out of a closet. 
There's no sudden loud orchestra

228
00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,120
hit when he turns a corner. 
It's entirely about the feeling 

229
00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,240
of being enclosed in something 
infinite. 

230
00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,840
Parsons is a Wizard of mood. 
It feels incredibly reminiscent 

231
00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:05,200
of early David Lynch, doesn't 
it? 

232
00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:07,920
Oh, the Lynching influence is 
undeniable, particularly when 

233
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:09,480
you look at the sound design. 
Tell me about it. 

234
00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,480
Parsons shares Lynch's fixation 
on the mysteries of electricity.

235
00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,400
He uses this industrial cosmic 
sound design. 

236
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,360
Parsons mixes the ambient room 
tone so loudly that it 

237
00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:23,400
practically vibrates the theater
seat. 

238
00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:25,200
I could. 
Feel it in my chest. 

239
00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,160
Yeah, he removes all natural 
Foley's. 

240
00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,080
There are barely any footsteps, 
no echoing breath, leaving only 

241
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,120
the oppressive electric buzz of 
those fluorescent lights. 

242
00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:38,640
It's totally oppressive and it 
places the film in the lineage 

243
00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,320
of movies like Eraserhead or 
even that recent indie hit Skin 

244
00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:43,760
Amering. 
Oh, good comparison. 

245
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,120
Right, movies that take human 
interiority and turn it into 

246
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,240
physical architects. 
They aren't asking you to follow

247
00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:54,000
a traditional three act plot 
structure, they're asking you to

248
00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:57,080
inhabit a broken consciousness 
for two hours. 

249
00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,240
Yes, it works almost entirely as
a sustained mood piece. 

250
00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:02,960
But here's where it gets really 
interesting for me, because if 

251
00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,840
you look at the standard formula
for modern horror, it's very 

252
00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:08,360
predictable. 
Build tension. 

253
00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:09,840
Release tension with a jump 
scare. 

254
00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:11,400
Exactly. 
Build, release. 

255
00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:13,880
It's a roller coaster. 
But you're saying this film is 

256
00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,880
basically just two hours of 
building tension with the hum of

257
00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:18,360
a fluorescent light bulb? 
Pretty much. 

258
00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,440
Why is that sustained hum and 
the lack of a jump scare somehow

259
00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,520
scarier to a modern audience 
than a monster jumping out of 

260
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,280
the shadows? 
Because a jump scare is a 

261
00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:30,440
physiological release valve. 
It gives your nervous system 

262
00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,360
permission to react, to scream, 
and then to relax for a second 

263
00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:35,840
and laugh it off with the person
sitting. 

264
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:37,080
Next year that. 
Makes a lot of sense. 

265
00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,080
Right when you remove that 
release valve, the anxiety just 

266
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:41,760
compounds. 
It has nowhere to go. 

267
00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,040
The hum of those lights is 
sensory deprivation mixed with 

268
00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,480
sensory inevitability. 
It mimics the exact physical 

269
00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:51,760
sensation of a panic attack. 
Exactly. 

270
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,600
A jump scare is an external 
threat you can react to. 

271
00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:59,160
You can run from a monster, but 
the hum is an environmental 

272
00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,880
reality you cannot escape. 
It tells the audience and it 

273
00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:05,080
tells Clark that the environment
itself is hostile. 

274
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,280
And there is nowhere to hide. 
Wow, like a panic attack That is

275
00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:12,080
profound because the 
architecture of his own misery 

276
00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,880
is what's trapping him. 
It's not an external force, it's

277
00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,120
the space itself. 
Yeah, he's stuck in his own 

278
00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,400
head, basically. 
But having said all that about 

279
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,280
the environment, we do have to 
talk about the physical monsters

280
00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,920
because there are actual 
physical threats wandering 

281
00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,000
around this endless yellow maze.
There are eventually, though 

282
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,840
they are used very sparingly. 
And they are absolutely 

283
00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,520
terrifying when you finally see 
them. 

284
00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,880
We get these human figures or 
things that used to be human, 

285
00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,640
that look like they have several
faces completely crumpled into 

286
00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:42,680
themselves. 
Like origami made of flesh. 

287
00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,440
It's so gross. 
And then, in one of the most 

288
00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:47,920
deeply disturbing moments I've 
seen in a theater in years, 

289
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,200
there is a towering demonic 
version of Cat and Clark 

290
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,440
himself. 
That was wild. 

291
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,280
The pirate costume, the sadness,
the whole deal just twisted into

292
00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,640
something massive and monstrous.
They are visually striking, no 

293
00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:03,520
doubt. 
Visual Effects team did an 

294
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,000
incredible job making them look 
tactile and heavy. 

295
00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,680
They felt very real. 
But in our critical assessment 

296
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,000
of the film, as much as they 
work in the moment, the monsters

297
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,360
aren't actually the movies best 
argument. 

298
00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,560
Not at all. 
They're effective, sure, but the

299
00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:20,360
film is infinitely more 
frightening in the hour before 

300
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,280
it shows us anything at all. 
The anticipation is killer. 

301
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,680
The true horror of Backrooms is 
the infinite empty space. 

302
00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,720
It's the sheer scale of a portal
that offers absolutely no 

303
00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,040
promise of a destination. 
And this is where Parsons age 

304
00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:36,560
becomes staggering all over 
again. 

305
00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,280
Right, barely 20. 
To be a 20 year old filmmaker 

306
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,200
making your major studio debut 
and to have the immense 

307
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,040
discipline to withhold your 
monsters. 

308
00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,120
It's unheard of. 
To understand that what we 

309
00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:50,720
cannot see is almost always more
terrifying than what we can that

310
00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,680
that takes a level of confidence
you usually don't see until a 

311
00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,640
seasoned directors 4th or 5th 
film. 

312
00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,520
It really does. 
He holds back with the of 

313
00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,280
someone who has been thinking 
about the space for years. 

314
00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,600
Which, to be fair, he has. 
Very true. 

315
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,640
He's been living creatively in 
the backroom since he was 16. 

316
00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,440
He knows that the threat of the 
monster rounding the corner is 

317
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,240
vastly scarier than the monster 
itself. 

318
00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,680
If we connect this to the bigger
picture, the introduction of 

319
00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,480
those monsters actually changes 
how we view Clark's journey. 

320
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,000
How do you mean? 
Well, when he finally encounters

321
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,160
the crumpled humans, and 
especially when he comes face to

322
00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:31,280
face with the demon version of 
himself, it reframes the entire 

323
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,200
setting. 
The infinite yellow rooms feel 

324
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,360
less like a trap that he 
accidentally stumbled into and 

325
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,400
more like a destination he has 
been walking toward for years. 

326
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,200
His alcoholism, his bitter 
divorce, his failed business. 

327
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,240
He was already wandering 
endlessly in his own life. 

328
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,480
The Backrooms just made the 
psychological metaphor literal. 

329
00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:53,600
So we're back to the 
philosophical question. 

330
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,840
Is it hell? 
Are these creatures demons or 

331
00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,480
are they reflections? 
Maybe the monsters are just us. 

332
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,440
That's chilling. 
Maybe the crumpled faces aren't 

333
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,080
demons. 
Maybe they're just the physical 

334
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,920
manifestation of the weight of 
thousands of bad decisions 

335
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,320
folding in on a person. 
They're like getting crushed by 

336
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,000
your own regrets. 
Exactly. 

337
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,240
The Demon Captain Clark isn't a 
boogie man. 

338
00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,840
It is exactly what Clark thinks 
of himself deep down, a 

339
00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,880
monstrous, pathetic joke that 
destroys everything it touches. 

340
00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:27,000
God, that is bleak, but it's so 
incredibly executed. 

341
00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,520
When the credits finally rolled,
we just sat in the theater for a

342
00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,760
solid minute, completely 
absorbed in the enigmas and the 

343
00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:35,680
grunge textures of what we just 
watched. 

344
00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,000
It leaves a mark for sure. 
It really does, and we gave it a

345
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,600
solid 88 out of 100 on our 
scale. 

346
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,680
Like we said at the top of the 
show, it is without a doubt the 

347
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,600
best horror film of the year. 
Absolutely. 

348
00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,440
EG 4 gives a master class in 
grounded misery, making you feel

349
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,680
every ounce of that character's 
exhaustion. 

350
00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,600
And Kane Parsons has officially 
announced himself as a major 

351
00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,880
visionary cinematic voice. 
I cannot wait to see what he 

352
00:16:57,880 --> 00:16:59,240
makes next. 
Me neither can I. 

353
00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,320
It's rare to see a film that 
takes an Internet era fear and 

354
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,720
translates it so perfectly into 
a timeless exploration of human 

355
00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,119
despair. 
So what does this all mean? 

356
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,440
We've spent this time talking 
about a fictional man who falls 

357
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,240
out of reality and into an 
infinite yellow office space. 

358
00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:19,520
A nightmare scenario. 
But I want to leave you with a 

359
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,760
final thought to Mull over as 
you go about your day. 

360
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,599
Earlier, we defined A liminal 
space as a temporary area of 

361
00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:31,040
transition, a hallway or a 
waiting room between a starting 

362
00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,760
point and a destination. 
Right, a place you just pass 

363
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:35,480
through. 
But what happens to the human 

364
00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,360
psyche when that temporary 
transition becomes your 

365
00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:41,000
permanent reality? 
Look around at your own life, 

366
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:43,160
good boy. 
Your daily routines, your 

367
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,960
endless commutes, your literal 
and metaphorical waiting rooms. 

368
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,520
Are we all just wandering our 
own endless yellow corridors, 

369
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,280
waiting to arrive at a life that
finally makes sense? 

370
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,560
That is a deeply terrifying 
thought to leave on. 

371
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:57,600
I think so too. 
And on that note, thank you for 

372
00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:59,920
tuning into this deep dive on 
stories in motion. 

373
00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:00,800
It's. 
Been a fun one. 

374
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,160
Remember to drop your review 
requests in the comments. 

375
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,400
Go follow us on Letterbox at 
Stories In Motion. 

376
00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,520
And whatever you do today, keep 
thinking about the next room.