Backrooms and Environmental Design
Backrooms will soon be out in Australia. Directed by Kane Parsons, written by Will Soodik and distributed by A24, the movie is based on a series of “found footage” style videos created by Kane Parsons in 2022. Parsons was in turn influenced by “The Backroom” photos posted on an earlier 4chan thread in 2019.
What Are Backrooms?
They are a fictional, surreal and liminal world where things are familiar but eery at the same time. We can all relate to physical spaces that feel strange or odd, without necessarily being able to say why. I can think of several home opens which left me scratching my head at odd renovation choices or unique construction techniques.
Here in Perth, the website streetkidindustries by Delphine Janet is an amazing photography project that aims to capture and preserve abandoned buildings.
Flicking through the photos, the abandonment is incredibly unsettling. Especially elements that suggest previous human occupation: empty tin cans, loose papers, a single shoe.
Another feature is the decay. Broken windows, peeling paint, exposed wiring, mouldy walls, caved in ceilings. It’s desolate. It’s dangerous. But beneath that, it feels unloved. Nobody cares about this place anymore. It’s alone.
Backrooms are also notorious for their examples of bad architecture. Low door ways, a lack of windows, awkward corridors, unnatural crawl spaces. It’s the opposite of good feng shui!
But why does this provoke such an unsettling atmosphere? Why does it make your screen crawl? Why does it whisper GET OUT?
I think it’s because it scratches some ancient part of your brain responsible for survival. You are unwelcome here. This place is not meant for you. At an extreme, these places feel alien and unnatural. Literally hostile to humans.
Extending that idea, you’ll notice that there’s no sign of current life in backrooms. No windows, sun, plants, food, people, nor animals. Everything is static and stale. Nothing moves. Which makes sense. Because in order to have movement there needs to be life. Yes, something could be automated to turn on but even that suggests the presence of “someone” who programmed that automation – but where the heck are they now??
Why Are Backrooms So Popular At The Moment?
Perhaps its due to the state of the world today. A sense of unease and lack of stability, resulting in an unpredictable future.
Maybe the advent of AI creates a fear that this intelligence is building online spaces and content that are meant for humans but lack actual human warmth and connection. It’s a simulacra of human experience.
Maybe because backrooms toy with the idea of parallel worlds that lie just a sliver away from our own that contain a world of malice, danger and horror.
Maybe it’s all of the above.
On a random note, my personal theory about backrooms is that they are the unfinished levels sitting on a game designer’s computer. Built in Unity, they are abandoned projects, half realised ideas, and experimental prototypes. Unfinished, forgotten and with no exits.
Check out the trailer below and if you’re keen for some psychological horror see it at the movies!
Main image credit: Photo from Backrooms movie.