There are actually a lot of great details here it’s not slop like I was expecting. Won’t write out all the cute jokes (like the fake throne turning into real metal etc) and stuff (“why seagulls” etc) but note that Async guy lives near enough to Clark’s business to see his ad. That means it’s a localized issue.
Predictions in order of decreasing seriousness: they can’t control the spread or turn it off but want to handle the issue privately (they aren’t sending in swat teams), they are deliberately keeping the backrooms turned on because they either want to salvage investment or make use of the duplication, Clark was “chosen” because he has architect training and a therapist going in will have a similarly weird effect, Mary’s mother went inside leading to her agoraphobia (a bit trite as that’s kind of the opposite of an inside-only dimension), Mary will reappear as a member of the research team studying the mental properties of the dimension, there will be new viruses/bacteria/prions/parasites misduplicated that cause the most horrific diseases imaginable, there will be rare materials found within the structures, there will be Backrooms-tainium, someone from Async will say The Backrooms Project (please no)
If you’re curious about why this movie in particular compels me to be normal on here for once, I don’t care. Did you think it was slop? Whaddya notice? Elucidate my plotcel nonexistent ass
Mary’s mother went inside leading to her agoraphobia (a bit trite as that’s kind of the opposite of an inside-only dimension)
agoraphobia isn’t exactly about indoors vs outdoors, it’s about safe vs vulnerable/exposed (as in places you feel safe or vulnerable during a panic attack, it’s a type of panic disorder), it just so happens that home is usually the last remaining safe place
i can’t imagine that what’s essentially an indoors-coded wilderness is going to flag as “safe”
Yeah she might just end up afraid that the next time she opens any door she’s gonna see six eyes. Plus the floor descent sequence linking her home to the dimension feels like one of the central moments.
As far as trite, this movie feels wide open to people who want to criticize therapy itself, among other things. “Blame your job.” is valid actually. Circling back like that wouldn’t be out of place at all.
Spoiler
Actually, there is something pointing to it being a global issue, the tape recorders in all languages, but scientists would be smart enough to do that anyways. Were the tape recorders to attract the creature, or to attract the future missing persons? Why would it be in all languages if it was only to bait the creature?
Edit: nah nevermind just checked that last bit with the gas trap, they were definitely baiting just the creature, so why in all languages? also clark is wrong (well obviously he’s insane) that the misduplicated people can’t feel pain, they clearly feel pain and fear, the red-haired woman runs and screams either hearing the pirate early or sensing him telepathically. Maybe they have a sort of “locked in” syndrome. Anyways the entities are of course the most spoilery part so I shouldn’t even mention that. We’re gonna see a city and a factory (?) of some kind (painting + the gear sound in the descent montage). I wonder if the creatures can just keep growing indefinitely if they keep eating stuff. They just don’t eat stuff usually because they’re not as motile as the pirate or it’s got something extra wrong with it.
Also “people” is a lie I only checked in with 2 reviews, but I like them so I don’t want to portray them negatively, I didn’t actually look at discourse for this movie. Frankly, I am afraid to do so
Nothing in this post references the content of the wall painting, my apologies. It’s right after the therapist (Mary) finds her way in
Interesting, I think you noticed a lot of things I didn’t, going to have to watch it again some time. I’m pleased to hear there will be a sequel too, the first one felt a bit…inconclusive. Maybe not quite the right word, but it felt like there was potentially more to the story that we didn’t really see. I guess part of the appeal of Backrooms is that it offers a great setting for putting stories in rather than just a story itself.
