One wrong turn into the endless yellow maze was all it took for Backrooms to become one of the biggest horror stories of the year.
Directed by Kane Parsons from a short film he created when he was just 16 years old, the feature adaptation transformed the viral internet phenomenon into a mainstream box office hit, introducing millions of newcomers to its unsettling online mythology.
But as haunting as its eerie hallways and creatures were, it was the film’s ambiguous ending that left viewers debating its meaning long after the credits rolled, making it one of the most talked-about horror finales of 2026. Below, we examine just what happened.
What is Backrooms about?
It is 1990, and we are introduced to Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Clark is not doing so hot after his wife left him. The owner of Captain Clark’s Ottoman Empire, his business is about to collapse, and his drinking is getting out of hand. He is in therapy with Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) for his anxiety and anger, but that isn’t helping much.
After an extraordinarily high electricity bill, Clark and an electrician investigate the basement and discover three random breaker switches. Clark has been experiencing odd electrical issues throughout the store, where he has been living since his divorce. During a blackout, he sees light where there should not be light, and he then discovers a wall he can pass through, a portal, and finds a world similar to a furniture store, but slightly askew.
He finds random personal belongings, with shoes and chairs half sunken into the floor, dead birds, and a skeletal creature that begins to chase him. He escapes through a tiny door, but before he leaves, he takes a stool with him from the Backrooms to prove it is real.
Clark becomes obsessed with the Backrooms, and he does not know it, but his every move is being watched by a scientist named Phil (Mark Duplass).
Clark tells Mary, as well as Kat (Lukita Maxwell) and Bobby (Finn Bennett), his workers, about the Backrooms, but they do not believe him. Kat and Bobby follow him, tethered together and filming their experiences. Bobby is lowered into a room where he runs into the creature, which eventually attacks him and then Kat. Clark escapes, but quickly gets lost. He can hear Kat’s voice but cannot find her. The creature closes in on him.
Mary receives a message on her answering machine that Clark will never be back.
Scientist Phil sees Clark’s commercial and recognizes him from the surveillance video.
Mary goes to the store and finds the basement, where she witnesses a fly pass through a marked wall. She realizes Clark has told her the truth and ends up in the Backrooms. She finds an illustration of a monster devouring human beings. She finally runs into Clark, who looks terrified. He tells her that the place is a combination of every place they have ever been. A noise distracts them, and Clark knocks Mary unconscious.
What are the Backrooms?
According to Clark, the Backrooms imitate objects and places from the outside world. Whenever a person enters, the Backrooms attempt to recreate people and locations based on that person’s memories. But the copies are not perfect and can emerge twisted and distorted at times. These creatures feel nothing, and the Backrooms use them as a food source.
Clark explains all this to Mary while they are in a false kitchen from her memories. Inside the fridge is Kat’s severed head, which is very real. Clark wants Mary to tell him that his divorce is not his fault. He forces Mary to playact as his wife, and he apologizes to her.
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The Backrooms absorb human emotion and memory, learn from them, and build from that. The result is a nightmare copy of reality that plunges people into the uncanny valley. But to Clark, the Backrooms become a place for him to start again.
What happens at the end of Backrooms?
Just as Clark decides to let Mary go, a horrifying version of Clark, dressed as pirate Captain Clark, appears in the dream kitchen. It is a twisted, horrific version of Clark, large and looming. It rips out Clark’s neck, and Mary escapes through the kitchen into a strange fake neighborhood, but Captain Clark is still in pursuit. Mary climbs to a high ledge to escape the distorted pirate and sees the Backrooms in full view.
Mary stumbles into a replica of the furniture store with Captain Clark in pursuit. She breaks one of its legs, but a gas is released into the room. She uses a small handprint keepsake from her childhood as a weapon against the creature and escapes through a narrow passage.
As soon as she exits, masked scientists from the mysterious A-Sync Corporation nab her and Captain Clark. She meets Phil, who asks her about the Backrooms.
According to Phil, A-Sync Corporation has been researching the Backrooms for years. Mary plays along until she realizes she might not leave this interrogation alive.
Meanwhile, new Backrooms are being formed based on Mary’s memories of her childhood home, as well as the interrogation room, including a mangled version of Mary sitting within.
Backrooms, Available for rent or purchase, Prime Video, Apple TV, and most digital retailers