An excerpt from my script review for Backrooms which will be available 06/26/26:
2.) Plot Stability
As I watched the “found footage” videos initially, did I kick around the idea of writing a script based on the setting?
Of course I did, because it’s fascinating to me.
Is that the reason I didn’t care for the version we got?
Realistically…no.
Now I know the film made a lot of money, and I’m happy for that, but that fact has more to do with the subject matter than A24 being involved.
(The boys and I discussed in our email thread just how different this would have been if it was a Blumhouse feature, and argued it’d be just as successful if not more so.)
One of the issues I saw with the concept of a project, other than being too busy (read that as “lazy”) to sit down and write a script, is that with all the various levels the story would become very episodic.
That’s one of the things that works in a ten minute YouTube video, but not in a 90+ minute feature length film.
Would it completely tank the project? Probably not, but it was a significant issue I had a hard time brainstorming past, even if it did become a plot of trying to escape a black monster made up of squiggle arms and legs.
Other than the setting, I love the researchers in yellow hazmat suits. They seem unsure of how they got there, why they’re there, but feel the constant need to finish the checklist!
That also makes for good drama, especially when you’re trying to stay alive versus these random things trying to kill and/or eat you.
Here are two of my more favorites based on the lore…
As I mentioned, one of the things I enjoyed about the lore was these scientists researching the Backrooms, but not exactly sure why.
Kane started things out with a really good concept, but like this script and the final film, I didn’t really care about the whole Async angle he leans too much into.
(Async is something they can apparently copyright, but not necessarily the yellow hazmat suit scientists, who feel cherry picked right out of the containment squad from Monsters Inc.)
Here’s what he started with…
Alright, so I’ll get to it…where did A24 force Parsons to go wrong?
(I phrase it that way on purpose, because although it’s not perfect, Will Soodik’s script is truer to Kane’s creations on the internet.)
A24 did what A24 tends to do, and they shoehorn in a theme they want us to walk away with.
Watch the end of this clip from the film, and see if you can spot it…
Here’s a line from Clark, both in the film and script, that might help…
CLARK
Imagine describing a dog to someone
who’s never seen one, and then
asking them draw it. They might get
a few things right — maybe even
most things — but there’s no way
they’d get everything right. The
devil’s in the details. If you
looked at it from a distance, then
sure: you’d see a dog. But if you
got close enough…
Got it yet?
If not, here’s one last hint from the script, page 51 while describing the STILL LIFES:
THE REDHEADED WOMAN IS DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF CLARK. She’s no
mannequin — but she’s no woman, either. Every facial feature
belongs to someone else, as if an AI was interrupted halfway
through generating a person.
The theme?
A bullshit metaphor that tells us, “AI slop is bad.”
You know why I have zero issue with my reasoning behind this argument?
That’s the exact statement the boss had as we exited the theater and the reason she cited for liking the film, going in with little to no knowledge of the Backrooms.
So congrats A24, you shoehorned in your message and probably lost a good chunk of the audience to any sequel you might be considering, especially if other studios come out with their own versions.
And you know what?!
Like the article about AI in filmmaking, it’s here whether you like it or not. Yes I want original content to remain a staple of Hollywood, but that content needs to entertain us, and shit talking a potential future competitor comes off more as whining than it does impressive.
And to my knowledge, there’s zero examples of these Still Lifes in the Backrooms…nor can you eat them like angel food cake, and what was up with that monster?
“It represented a distorted version of how Clark saw himself, deep down…”
Fuck. You.
That wasn’t what we wanted, and you know it. Hell Kane Parsons and Will Soodik knew it too, which is why the script was closer to the original lore which I know some studio exec forced them to change a la Superman Lives.
We didn’t need to see Alice’s or the White Rabbit’s personal life before Wonderland, we wanted them forced down the rabbit hole on a wacky misadventure!
Same with Clark and Mary.
Give us the weird…not a lecture.
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