Naman Shrestha
Adapted from Kane Parsons’ web series of the same name and inspired by the eponymous creepypasta, ‘Backrooms’ is a psychological horror movie directed by Parsons himself. It centers on Clark, a manager of a furniture store named Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, who comes across a strange dimension inside the store. After exploring a series of never-ending rooms, he shares it with his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline, who is reluctant to believe him.
To prove that the place exists in the furniture showroom’s basement, he explores its rooms with a couple of his acquaintances, but is unable to return to the real world. When the therapist comes to the store looking for her patient, she also enters the otherworldly dimension in search of Clark. The supernatural thriller film is primarily set in the backrooms of the furniture store, with its series of yellow-walled rooms adding a sense of dread and the unknown for the characters stuck there. Despite the vastness of the space, it feels claustrophobic for Clark and others.
Backrooms Filming Locations
Although set in San Jose, California, ‘Backrooms’ was shot in British Columbia, particularly in Greater Vancouver. According to reports, principal photography for the Renate Reinsve starrer commenced around early July 2025 under the working title of ‘Effigy’ and continued for more than a month or so before wrapping up in August of the same year.
Greater Vancouver, British Columbia
‘Backrooms’ was entirely shot in Greater Vancouver in the southwest edge of mainland British Columbia. Also known as Metro Vancouver, the region is home to one of the country’s leading production hubs, Vancouver. The port city served as the primary filming location of the gripping horror film. Director Kane opened up about the production process at the 2026 CCXP Mexico, sharing insights about how they settled on the color and overall tone. He explained, “…We did a lot of tests there to make sure we were getting the general tone that people expected (from) Backrooms. We did 50 wallpaper tests to get the right shape of yellow.” As far as the backrooms are concerned, according to reports, the team built the titular spot on a soundstage in Hollywood North.
The team utilized over 30,000 square feet of space to recreate the nightmarish, dim-lit liminal area that hypnotizes Clark and ultimately entraps his therapist, too. Interestingly, just as in the film, the crew members also got lost while roaming the maze-like backrooms. He quipped, “Actually, some people were getting lost. It felt like being there, which was really weird.” In conversation with James Wan for an A24 interview, the filmmaker delved deep into the process, explaining how everything was meticulously designed as they progressed. He stated, “The sets, when I get there, I mean, I brought my computer with me, my laptop. And all the sets that we built, because our production office was on the sound stage or right outside of it. And so, we had these four big stages that we could build on.”
Kane continued, “And we were working out our construction budget at the time and everything. And the script, we were iterating on the script as we were going through prep and stuff, so some things were changing. And so, everything was changing a little bit and it’s too hard to describe the exact order in which things changed. One change would retroactively affect the thing that changed that change and whatnot. But the sets are all… I made them all in Blender. I designed all the sets. And it’s pretty much one for one for what we have in the movie. Those all exist in the Blender files.”
Several scenes were taped inside the 2400 Motel at 2400 Kingsway. For the purpose of filming, the team also visited the city of Coquitlam in the Lower Mainland, about 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver. The scenes depicting the exterior of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, said to be in San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area, were actually lensed at Urban Tennis. The indoor tennis facility is located precisely at 15 King Edward Street. The team made temporary modifications to its exteriors to replicate the pirate-themed furniture store that Clark operates in the film.
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