Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-review by Professor Popinjay

(2026)

A word started getting tossed around a while back. “Liminal spaces” was the topic of the month amongst my children. They had become entranced with computer generated videos of long blank hallways, endless tile-covered echoey corridors with impossibly deep pools of water strewn about, strange indoor playgrounds with slides that lead nowhere. These places might seem normal enough had they been connected to some communal entrance or exit… but they weren’t. None of these hallways transitioned into any type of resting place or destination, just more hallways or rooms with nothing in them except access to more hallways. There was seemingly no way in and no way out. An actual maze with an eventual goal would be less maddening.

Instigated by a single photograph of a store in the midst of a remodel with a mirror on the wall that made the place look vast and empty yet strangely “finished” with wall-to-wall carpet, molding, ceiling tiles and working lights, the internet evolved this image into a source of fan-fiction lore which in turn spawned a myriad of videos and homebrew video games that would come to be called The Backrooms.

Eventually the lurking presence of something sinister was written in and the stage was set. Among the most prominent of these YouTube content creators was Kane Parsons who would eventually come to direct The Backrooms theatrical film.

I just find this to be the most unique of origins for a theatrical film. Inspired by a single photo, written into existence by a community, and brought to theatrical fruition by a YouTuber!?! And it taps into this strange inherent psychological gag reflex lodged deep in our subconscious, as if this fear of liminal spaces is something we have needed to confront on a personal and sociological level but have never quite been able to pinpoint the unnamed phobia until now.

It’s deep man! And this movie is deep too. In fact it might be too deep for most. This complaint is not from me though. I love a good deep movie that makes you think. I want to see this again right now so I can pause and consider things a second time. I found the film fascinating. But I’ve heard of a lot of people scratching their heads too.

There are other films in the theater right now from YouTubers. Some of my kids went to see the Amazing Digital Circus finale (2026). Another YouTuber film is Obsession (2026) which I see is a bit more the speed of the casual “I don’t want my brain to break” moviegoer. I’m not dogging on anyone. I haven’t seen Obsession. But I love a thoughtless romp as much as the next man. I just think it’s easy for some to bypass The Backrooms, assuming it looks boring, but if you like a deep film that has you on the edge of your seat even during the slow parts, you might really enjoy this.

I would encourage anyone who is curious about this to look up the countless Backrooms videos on YouTube. Personally, I find the poolrooms particularly unnerving/fascinating. But I’ve always been fascinated by public water works. It’s kind of my thing.

Optional tangent:

Incidentally, my theater of choice is most often the Cinemark at The Shoppes at Gateway, formerly the Gateway Mall. After being called the number 1 worst mall in America on a talk show, The Gateway Mall underwent major remodeling.

The long bleak inner corridors, which would gradually grant access to fewer and fewer recognizable stores, would eventually be closed off forever, effectively eliminating the mallrats (of which I was one occasionally) and making way for a strip of outside-accessible stores, most of which are hardly interesting to a teenager or even my present-day self… okay, there’s a GameStop but I never spend any money there.

The place is bustling again but it’s a very different set of stores with a very different clientele. I’d categorize them as “People with money who actually spend their money”. There are still a few vacant “shoppes” waiting to be filled. These places look liminal but not like the remnants of the inner corridors. The theater entrance is now oddly placed in relation to the actual theater which remains only accessible through a long, wide hallway… unless you want to walk outside down an equally long and unadorned alley.

It was clear this part of the hallway had to remain as access to the theater even while all the stores were gone, all the ads were taken down, and the decore has been purposely subdued to be not even remotely interesting. The place is now purposefully designed to get you through it with little to no temptation to remain there. 

Needless to say it was kind of fun traversing this area while on our way to see the Backrooms movies. It felt very appropriate and kind of unsettling.

The film answered some questions but then also raised several more which I count as fun storytelling. I hope this generates enough revenue to merit a sequel because I am definitely interested.

Poster art!