I Did Not Expect to Feel This Unsettled Leaving a Movie Theater by a regular person who just wanted to watch a horror film on a Friday night Okay, so full disclosure — I went into this mostly because my friend group has been obsessed with the Backrooms lore since like 2022, and we figured it'd be a fun group watch.                                                                                                              The setup is simple enough: a strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom, and Clark — the store's manager, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor — ends up lost inside. That's it. That's all you need to know going in. The less you know, the better.What immediately grabbed me is the texture of this film. The yellow-coated walls, the surreal terrors, the meticulous period production design — it's all set in the 1990s, and the detail is so obsessive that you start wondering how the director even knew what furniture belonged in that era. There's a specific kind of dread that comes from recognizing something familiar but knowing it's deeply, fundamentally wrong.                                                                    This movie weaponizes that feeling like it has a personal vendetta against your comfort and Ejiofor — God, the man can carry a film. His Clark is framed as an innocent, possibly misunderstood loser, but the film keeps you genuinely unsure about how frightening he might actually be. That ambiguity is where the real horror lives.The first-person horror sequences genuinely warrant comparison to The Blair Witch Project, though calling it just that feels reductive. It's more like if Blair Witch grew up playing Silent Hill and Portal. There are characters drawing maps to memorize their way through the maze, psychological torment with heavy symbolism, and a research institute documenting the Backrooms that's clearly inspired by Aperture Science. Nerdy? Yes. Terrifying anyway? Absolutely yes.Renate Reinsve as the therapist brought in from outside to find Clark is brilliant — she grounds the film emotionally in a way that keeps it from just being a set-piece showcase. You actually care whether she makes it out.The only thing stopping me from giving it a full five stars is the pacing in the second act, which drags slightly before an absolutely relentless final stretch. But honestly, looking back, I think that slowdown is intentional — it mirrors the disorientation of being stuck somewhere with no clear way out.Kane Parsons, at just 20 years old, becomes one of the youngest directors ever to helm a major studio feature, and watching this, you genuinely wouldn't know. The confidence is staggering. A24 bet on the right person.Go see it in theaters. Don't watch it alone. And maybe don't visit a furniture store for a week or two after.Would I watch it again? Yes. Will I regret that decision? Also yes.