Took my sons this afternoon. I liked it. Reminded me of a cross between Meow Wolf and Blair Witch. I took the movie to be allegory for collective memory and trauma (which seems very Gen Z-y).

We had those seats that move with every camera shake and thump and thud. That was fun.

TCTTS said:

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Probably one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen.

Suuuper unsettling, ominous, and surreal. So much atmospheric dread

The whole backrooms world just draws you in completely. To that end, the production design is absolutely incredible. I've never seen anything like it. The movie's worth watching for that element alone. Just to experience that world on a big screen is really, really unique and cool.

That said… it's a pretty unconventional script (and not in a good way), I thought the big villain reveal kind of sucked, I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, and there's no way I ever watch it again.

I saw someone compare an aspect of it to Lost, and *that's* the part I wish it focused on more. Because the main two characters just aren't all that compelling. They're not bad, but not great either.

All of that said, it's still worth seeing for sure, just don't expect a classic, or it to live up to the hype of the insane numbers it's currently doing at the box office. It's more of a concept in search of a plot. An incredibly interesting plot at times, just not one that fully delivers in the end, IMO.

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It's pretty obvious that Kane is a talented director. And his actors were doing great with what they have. Still proud of this kid to have the backing of a major studio and to get the quality of the cast he did. But listening to the Filmcast review and they brought up a good point

This film basically skipped act 2 and went straight to act 3. The script wasn't great but damn did I have fun with watching it

CharleyKerfeld said:

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My more critically thinking kid said the stuff in the Backrooms reminded her of bad Generative AI. Even what Clark says is that it's making copies that are just a little off. My daughter had gone to some art exhibition where you could type stuff onto a screen and it fill up this huge video wall of AI. She had it do some dogs, but they warped almost immediately into dogs with 2 heads and she said it creeped her out and thought the people in the BR were similar.

Can we assume the redheaded weirdo in Clark's dining room was a copy of his wife?

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I definitely went down the AI reiterative history route once we saw the mannequins

Also we did see a photo of the ex and she was a red head but more ginger

There is a blink and you miss it Easter egg that I believe said Reverchon Industry or something like that. Kanes follow up to Backrooms was called the Oldest View. In it a man finds a tunnel in a forest and finds himself in a recreation of the now demolished Valley View Mall in Dallas. Kane rebuilt it from videos and pictures in blender.

In it the place is haunted by a massive doll called the Rolling Giant based on French Botanist Julien Reverchon who lived in Dallas and the puppet was on display in the mall

I legitimately thought he filmed all that in an abandoned mall because it is that good.

Saw it last weekend. I enjoyed it. I didn't watch any of the original content/lore so i went in only having seen the trailer.

Good creepiness levels, felt fresh and interesting. I would be interested in a sequel if that's a thing that could happen.

My sons wanted to watch "Exit 8" this afternoon. Japanese film based on a video game. It reminded me a lot of Backrooms. Relies mostly on atmospheric dread and tension. Pretty light with the plot. But still I really liked it. If you liked Backrooms would recommend checking it out.

Is that the subway station one?

schmendeler said:

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Is that the subway station one?

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That's the one.

Yeah that one looked pretty cool

Also, this might be picking nits, but were we just supposed to ignore that Mary has a Norwegian accent, despite ostensibly growing up with an American accented mother in suburbia USA?

So you've never watched and enjoyed an Arnold movie then?

That has me thinking… did Arnold ever make a movie that referenced his accent?

The actress in this movie did an OK job of trying to hide her accent, but I wondered why they couldn't have a found an American actress for that role.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is a hell of an actor. The guy is great in everything he's in and she couldn't keep up lol.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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So you've never watched and enjoyed an Arnold movie then?

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Last Action Hero is the American Odyssey

Kindergarten Cop is the only one I can think of.

His "cover story" was that he's a teacher from Austria.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Kindergarten Cop is the only one I can think of.

His "cover story" was that he's a teacher from Austria.

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They made it a joke in T3 - but it got cut.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Kindergarten Cop is the only one I can think of.

His "cover story" was that he's a teacher from Austria.

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I remember reading the script to The Last Stand before it came out but I guess Arnold was already attached. Not sure if it made the movie but someone asks about his accent and he says: I was a beat cop in Los Angeles.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Kindergarten Cop is the only one I can think of.

His "cover story" was that he's a teacher from Austria.

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They made it a joke in T3 - but it got cut.

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holy crap that was….so awful….so so so awful….

Praise the lord that got cut!

superunknown said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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The hardest part was seeing Mark Duplass and waiting for Ruxin and Dr. Andre Nowzick to show up, to no avail.

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Could this movie use a well-timed Rafi Bomb?

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Or perhaps a Shiva blast.

Just saw it. Closest thing to Vanilla Sky i've ever seen. scrambles the lines between reality and the other realm well.

A+ for aesthetic.

D+ for story.

it was 30 minutes too long and like TCTTS said it was a beautiful concept looking for a script. And that script sucked. Wanted to like it. Loved the concept, hated the execution in the script

My daughter saw this two nights ago. She, like me and my wife, is a huge horror movie fan. She said this movie is one of the worst movies she's ever seen. Just goes to show, everyone has an opinion.

I like the idea, and I think you can make a good case for it being somewhat deep and introspective.

Problem is, it was boring as hell.

RightWingConspirator said:

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My daughter saw this two nights ago. She, like me and my wife, is a huge horror movie fan. She said this movie is one of the worst movies she's ever seen. Just goes to show, everyone has an opinion.

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Okay I saw it. I really enjoyed it. I found it be deeply unsettling. I thought the actress. Was really quite attractive too, but that's an aside.

Did everyone stay for the post credits scene? I thought it was cool.

Why Pirate Clark ate Clark, idea 3

The backrooms are about people not being willing to move on, and they stay in there with half-remembered copies of people they know or have seen and places that they have been. Clark was trying to move on from his bad marriage but is still struggling with his failing business. He cannot make progress and is therefore "stuck." The therapist is also a bit stuck due to things that happened in her childhood, but she is doing a better job of getting unstuck than Clark is. When the therapist finds Clark in the backrooms, he explains that he does not want to leave and he is essentially making a home out of it and now enjoys being stuck, or is at least comfortable with the rut he had made for himself.

Pirate Clark comes in to see Clark talking with therapist and is afraid that Clark is working on getting unstuck or may become unstuck and kills Clark to prevent that.

The 2026 summer of horror where you realize the main character of both movies is not only the villain, but also a huge A-holes