Here’s When ‘Backrooms’ Finally Becomes Streamable

Backrooms, the feature film based on the viral videos of eerie liminal spaces, was an undeniable success for A24, becoming their highest-grossing hit ever and one of the sensations of the summer. Naturally, the studio was going to wait longer than usual to abandon the lucrative theater sales…but the delay is almost over, as HBO Max confirms they will get the movie September 25, as part of their exclusive deal with A24.

We were skeptical something that gives the shivers in small doses could be effectively expanded into something that lasts over 90 minutes on a large screen. But young director Kane Parsons managed to pull it off (at least, I assume he pulled it off…I haven’t seen it and I’m going off other people’s reviews here).

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in Backrooms as Clark, a bored furniture salesman who discovers an invisible portal exists through the wall that can take him to a distorted version of the storage rooms in the building. These halls seem to go on forever, the flourescent lights buzz constantly, and boy is everything yellow. As Clark explores further, and encourages others to do the same, the Backrooms grow more distorted in appearance and, eventually, more dangerous. But it wouldn’t be an effective horror movie if people knew to turn around and leave.

Backrooms also stars Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell. Parsons says he’s currently trying to hammer out a sequel. Your trip to liminal space comes home September 25 on HBO Max.