Saagar Kote
‘Backrooms’ is helmed by Kane Parsons, based on his eponymous YouTube series and the internet phenomenon of the same name. The sci-fi horror film follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an architect who now runs a furniture store. His mundane life spirals out of control when he accidentally discovers a mysterious hidden doorway inside the store, leaving him baffled. Beyond the entrance lies an enormous labyrinth of interconnected back rooms, filled with endless furniture piles, distorted hallways, and surreal environments that seem to stretch on endlessly, without any clear logic or scientific explanation.
As Clark begins sharing details about this disturbing phenomenon with his therapist, Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), she tries to make sense of his feelings. However, he grows increasingly obsessed with the back rooms inside the strange dimension and disappears. Mary enters the back rooms herself to find him at any cost and save him before it is too late. The deeper Mary travels into the constantly shifting labyrinth, the more disorienting and dangerous the environment becomes. With Mary and Clark’s fates hanging in the balance, only time could reveal the truth. Looking for more horror movies similar to ‘Backrooms’ that feature dread, mystery, and deceptive psychological puzzles? You can check out this list.
10. Session 9 (2001)
‘Session 9’ unfolds within the abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts. With Brad Anderson in the director’s chair, the psychological film centers on an asbestos removal company owner, Gordon Fleming (Peter Mullan), and his crew. The crew members are Phil (David Caruso), Hank (Josh Lucas), Mike (Stephen Gevedon), and Jeff (Brendan Sexton III), who take on a rushed cleanup job inside the decaying hospital. Unexpected tensions grow among the workers as the hospital’s seemingly weird atmosphere begins to affect them.
Mike becomes obsessed with old therapy recordings from a former patient with multiple personalities. The tapes gradually reveal the existence of a disturbing personality named Simon, and the crew slowly descends into fear and psychological collapse within the haunting labyrinth. While ‘Backrooms’ uses endless physical spaces to foster doubt and fear in its characters, ‘Session 9’ uses the eerie atmosphere of the abandoned medical facility to create horrifying situations and disturbing revelations.
9. The Deep House (2021)
‘The Deep House’ focuses on engaged couple Ben (James Jagger) and Tina (Camille Rowe), American YouTubers known for filming paranormal content. During a trip to rural France, they learn about a fully submerged house hidden deep beneath a remote lake. Excited by the opportunity to capture unique footage, the pair dives underwater to investigate. Inside, they discover unsettling symbols, artifacts, and evidence connected to horrific crimes.
What begins as an exploration quickly becomes terrifying as supernatural forces trap them inside the house. With limited oxygen and violent paranormal activity surrounding them, Ben and Tina struggle to escape. Penned and helmed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the English-language French film is a claustrophobic tale. The movie, akin to ‘Backrooms,’ maximizes tension and tests the characters’ resolve by using closed spaces that defy scientific logic and human assumptions about reality.
8. Annihilation (2018)
‘Annihilation’ revolves around Lena (Natalie Portman), a biology professor and former soldier whose husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) mysteriously returns home after disappearing during a classified military mission. When Kane suddenly becomes critically ill, Lena is taken to a secret research facility studying “The Shimmer,” a strange, expanding zone where the laws of nature appear distorted. Hoping to uncover what happened to Kane, Lena joins an all-women expedition led by Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh).
Inside the surreal environment, the team encounters mutated lifeforms, psychological instability, and terrifying biological transformations that challenge their understanding of reality and identity. Written and directed by Alex Garland, the sci-fi film is loosely based on Jeff VanderMeer’s eponymous novel. If the world-building and the slow-burning mystery of the endless physical spaces in ‘Backrooms’ appealed to you, ‘Annihilation’ will be of interest to you as it does the same in a different setting, commenting on humanity’s connection to the unknown.
7. Meander (2020)
‘Meander’ or ‘Méandre’ is a French sci-fi thriller film that chronicles the life of Lisa (Gaia Weiss), a grieving woman. She accepts a ride from a mysterious stranger before suddenly waking up trapped inside a narrow network of futuristic metal tunnels. Attached to her arm is a bracelet counting down every few minutes, signaling deadly dangers moving through the maze. Forced to crawl through cramped passages filled with lethal traps, Lisa must constantly keep moving to survive. As she struggles through the claustrophobic labyrinth, disturbing memories of her deceased daughter begin resurfacing, linking her emotional trauma to the strange environment surrounding her.
With little understanding of who trapped her or why, Lisa fights to stay alive as she uncovers the unsettling truth behind the maze and her imprisonment. Mathieu Turi serves as both writer and director of the movie, which is a disturbing exploration of trauma. Both ‘Meander’ and ‘Backrooms’ unfold in puzzling settings, placing characters in inexplicable and threatening scenarios, while also unraveling painful truths and the consequences of hidden emotions.
6. As Above, So Below (2014)
‘As Above, So Below’ is crafted by the vision of John Erick Dowdle and loosely inspired by Dante’s ‘Inferno.’ The narrative follows archaeologist Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks), who becomes obsessed with locating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone once sought by Nicolas Flamel. Her search leads her beneath Paris into the vast and forbidden Catacombs, where she assembles a group of guides and urban explorers to help navigate the underground labyrinth. Accompanied by George (Ben Feldman), Benji (Edwin Hodge), and others, Scarlett pushes deeper into unexplored tunnels believed to conceal the artifact.
As the group descends further, the catacombs begin confronting them with terrifying supernatural visions tied to their trauma. What starts as an archaeological expedition gradually transforms into a psychological nightmare where escape seems impossible. The experiences of Scarlett and her team members are eerily similar to the trials and tribulations of Mary and Clark in ‘Backrooms,’ who also get lost in a maze they find impossible to make sense of.
5. 1408 (2007)
Adapted from Stephen King’s short story of the same name, ‘1408′ is the story of Mike Enslin (John Cusack), a cynical author. He travels across America investigating and debunking seemingly haunted locations for his books. After receiving an anonymous warning postcard, Mike becomes interested in room 1408 at NYC’s Dolphin Hotel, linked to numerous mysterious deaths over several decades. Despite repeated warnings from hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson), Mike checks into the room, believing the stories are exaggerated.
He soon experiences terrifying supernatural events that distort time, memory, and reality itself. Trapped inside the room, he is forced to confront both psychological torment and painful personal trauma while desperately searching for escape. Mikael Håfström steers the psychological film, which captures the thematic and visual essence of ‘Backrooms’ through its riveting narrative, claustrophobic tone, the trauma of the main character, and the increasing uncertainty about fate and reality.
4. Grave Encounters (2011)
‘Grave Encounters’ is a supernatural film that follows Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson) and the crew of the ghost-hunting reality show Grave Encounters as they film an episode inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, rumored to be haunted. Hoping to boost ratings, the crew members lock themselves inside the hospital overnight to capture paranormal evidence on camera. Alongside the team, Lance initially treats the investigation as entertainment rather than a genuine danger. As the night progresses, the hospital begins transforming into a terrifying labyrinth of endless hallways and shifting rooms.
The crew encounters violent supernatural activity, hallucinations, and growing madness while realizing the lethal building has no intention of letting them escape alive. Crafted and penned by The Vicious Brothers, the narrative is an intricate portrayal of trauma and the insecurities of the human mind that become intense in restrictive spaces. These themes and the haunting visual elements of the movie connect it to the equally disturbing and harrowing world of ‘Backrooms’ and its troubled characters.
3. Skinamarink (2022)
‘Skinamarink’ takes place in 1995 and sheds light on young siblings Kevin (Lucas Paul) and Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault), who wake up during the night to discover that their father has mysteriously disappeared and that all the doors and windows inside their house have vanished. Confused and frightened, the children try to comfort themselves by sleeping in the living room, watching old cartoons, and hoping the father will eventually return. However, the quiet darkness of the house slowly becomes increasingly disturbing as an eerie, unseen presence begins to surround them.
As reality breaks apart, the siblings are drawn toward terrifying supernatural forces hidden in the endless darkness, turning their home into an unsettling nightmare. The experimental film marks the directorial debut of Kyle Edward Ball, who also wrote the screenplay. While ‘Backrooms’ features adults in a mind-boggling situation characterized by strange happenings and elements beyond science and logic, ‘Skinamarink’ achieves a similar sense of dread, narrated through the perspectives of traumatized kids.
2. Cube (1997)
Shaped by the vision of Vincenzo Natali, ‘Cube’ is the tale of six strangers who suddenly awaken inside a massive maze made of interconnected cube-shaped rooms. The trapped strangers include police officer Quentin McNeil (Maurice Dean Wint), mathematics student Leaven (Nicole de Boer), escape artist Rennes (Wayne Robson), doctor Helen Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), architect David Worth (David Hewlett), and Kazan (Andrew Miller), a man with an unexpected talent. With no memory of how they arrived there, the group must work together to survive and find a way out.
As they navigate the endless structure, the group discovers that many rooms contain lethal mechanisms triggered without warning. Relying on teamwork, they attempt to decode the maze as paranoia gradually tears them apart. The science fiction film, much like ‘Backrooms,’ is a disturbing journey into the complexities of the human mind and the crisis that accompanies people when they enter unexpected realms beyond their understanding. The films also explore themes of survival and meaning, as well as distorted realities.
1. Vivarium (2019)
‘Vivarium’ deals with the trials and tribulations of Gemma (Imogen Poots), a schoolteacher, and her boyfriend Tom (Jesse Eisenberg), who are searching for their first home together. A strange real estate agent named Martin (Jonathan Aris) takes them to a suburban development called Yonder, filled with endless rows of identical houses. After visiting house number 9, the couple discovers they cannot leave the neighborhood for some reason. Trapped inside the surreal maze, they receive a mysterious package containing a baby and instructions to raise the child in exchange for their freedom.
While finding out that something is disturbing about the child, Gemma and Tom struggle with isolation and psychological exhaustion as they hope to understand the horrifying purpose behind Yonder. Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, this sci-fi psychological thriller is equally haunting and engaging. It focuses on the efforts to escape a terrifying nightmare, the endless nature of a strange space, and the eerie experiences of the main characters, which kind of parallel Clark and Mary’s ordeal in ‘Backrooms.’ Not only are the two films thematically related, but they also share a connection through their visual styles and the ways they build the central mystery and the characters’ journeys.
Read More: Where Was Backrooms Filmed?
