Most horror films are set against pitch-black darkness or blood-soaked spaces. But "Backrooms," directed by Kane Parsons, born in 2005, breaks completely free from the formula of conventional horror films. Analysts say its box-office success lies in how it makes an inescapable space—rooms of fluorescent-lit yellow that stretch on like a maze—the axis of its horror, capturing the existential dread of the global Gen Z generation (those born after 1997).
The film begins with a counseling session between Clark, who runs a discount furniture store, and Mary, a psychotherapist. Clark, the sole breadwinner, harbors resentment over having to pay for his wife's law school tuition, and later reveals he was abandoned by her, exposing deep anger and frustration. Then one day, Clark discovers a passage in the store's basement that does not connect to the real world and steps into the "Backrooms," endlessly continuing yellow corridors. As Clark, having entered the Backrooms, gradually loses his sanity and disappears, Mary confronts a completely changed version of him and finds herself trapped in the maze as well.
The film's most powerful metaphor is the presence of Clark, a "Black" man, who stands in perfect visual contrast to the yellow space. He is the most conspicuous figure of all, yet paradoxically, he quickly fades within the yellow space and ultimately vanishes. In this way, "Backrooms" deals with the anxiety of one's very existence being shaken—that is, existential dread. The sensation of sliding away somewhere, of no longer even knowing where one is, functions as the essence of the horror. The "no-clipping" premise of passing through the walls of reality into another dimension recalls Platform 9¾ from the film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." Its borrowing of the grammar of fantasy is also cited as another of the work's charms. Made on a production budget of 10 million dollars (about 15 billion won), the film created a box-office sensation in the global market, recording revenue of 301.82 million dollars (about 465.4 billion won), more than 30 times its production budget.
