{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 119 - Backrooms","description":"Backrooms (2026) Directed by: Kane Parsons Written by: Will Sudick Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell IMDB: Backrooms (2026) Episode Summary In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave discuss Backrooms (2026), an A24 horror film directed by 20-year-old YouTube filmmaker and wunderkind Kane Parsons \u2014 believed to be the youngest person to ever direct a widely released feature film. The discussion covers the film's expansion of the internet liminal space phenomenon into a feature-length narrative, its Tarkovsky-esque atmosphere, and the remarkable work of cinematographer Jeremy Cox and production designer Danny Vermette in bringing 30,000 square feet of meticulously constructed sets to life. The conversation digs deep into why liminal spaces resonate so powerfully with contemporary audiences \u2014 and with Gen Z in particular \u2014 framing the backrooms not just as a horror setting but as a cultural symptom of a society in uneasy transition. Both hosts award the film five stars, with Michael calling it the best film he's seen this year. \ud83e\udde0 Thematic Discussion Backrooms explores the psychology of liminal space \u2014 transitional, empty environments that feel familiar yet deeply wrong \u2014 and uses them as an externalization of Clark's inability to move on from divorce, grief, and unresolved anger. The film suggests that the backrooms are not merely a supernatural threat, but a space that reflects what we bring into it. Clark, living inside his furniture store rather than moving forward with his life, is already inhabiting a kind of liminal space before he ever finds the portal. The backrooms literalize his psychological stasis. The key scene where Mary stops being a detached therapist and tells Clark plainly that the problem is not where he is but that he refuses to move \u2014 functions as the film's emotional thesis. More broadly, the episode argues that our collective fascination with liminal spaces is less allegory or conscious metaphor and more a psychological aesthetic symptom: these spaces \u2014 fluorescent-lit, carpeted, emptied of purpose \u2014 resonate because they look like the places our society is abandoning, and feel like the threshold we are all standing on. The backrooms are what happens when transitional space becomes permanent home. \u23f1\ufe0f Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Intro & welcome ~02:00 Introducing Backrooms and Kane Parsons ~04:00 Plot overview & synopsis ~05:30 The liminal space \/ backrooms internet phenomenon ~07:30 Cast discussion \u2014 Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell ~15:30 Technical analysis \u2014 sound design, cinematography, production design ~26:00 \u26a0\ufe0f Spoiler-free reviews \u2014 Michael & Dave both award 5 stars ~35:00 \u26a0\ufe0f SPOILER SECTION BEGINS ~35:00 Defining liminal spaces \u2014 film history, David Lynch, The Shining, Stalker, Annihilation ~43:00 Why liminal spaces scare us \u2014 uncanny valley, psychological resonance ~49:00 Why now? Cultural anxiety, societal transition, the doom-scrolling generation ~54:00 Clark's arc \u2014 psychological stasis, avoidance, the backrooms as mirror ~60:00 Mary's arc \u2014 confronting pain as the path out ~62:00 The scientists \/ MRI company \u2014 and fears for Backrooms 2 ~68:00 A24, Neon, Cannes, and closing tangents ~70:00 Closing thoughts & contact info \ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f Films & Directors Mentioned Stalker (1979) \u2014 Andrei Tarkovsky Solaris (1972) \u2014 Andrei Tarkovsky Annihilation (2018) \u2014 Alex Garland Men (2022) \u2014 Alex Garland The Shining (1980) \u2014 Stanley Kubrick Skinamarink (2022) \u2014 Kyle Edward Ball Exit 8 \u2014 referenced as liminal space film Lost Highway (1997) \u2014 David Lynch Mulholland Drive (2001) \u2014 David Lynch Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me \/ Twin Peaks (series) \u2014 David Lynch Long Legs (2024) \u2014 Oz Perkins The Monkey (2025) \u2014 Oz Perkins Keeper \u2014 Oz Perkins The Black Coat's Daughter \/ February (2015) \u2014 Oz Perkins Hocum \u2014 referenced for comparison (sound design and scare level) Presence (2025) \u2014 referenced for scare level comparison Life of Chuck (2024) \u2014 referenced Creep (2014) \u2014 Mark Duplass 12 Years a Slave (2013) \u2014 referenced re: Chiwetel Ejiofor Sentimental Value (2025) \u2014 referenced re: Renate Reinsve Worst Person in the World (2021) \u2014 referenced re: Renate Reinsve Fjord (2026) \u2014 referenced; won Palme d'Or at Cannes Boys Go to Jupiter (2025) \u2014 referenced re: young filmmakers Pearl (2022) \/ X \/ MaXXXine \u2014 Ti West trilogy, referenced re: A24 sequels Talk to Me 2 \u2014 referenced re: A24 sequels Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) \u2014 Andr\u00e9 \u00d8vredal The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) \u2014 Andr\u00e9 \u00d8vredal Voyage of the Demeter (2023) \u2014 Andr\u00e9 \u00d8vredal \ud83d\udcec Contact \ud83c\udf10 https:\/\/mindframesfilm.com \ud83d\udcd8 Facebook: Mindframes Movies \ud83c\udfa7 Now Playing Network \u2014 nowplayingpodcast.net \u2709\ufe0f info@mindframesfilm.com ","author_name":"Mindframe(s)","author_url":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mindframesmovies","html":"