Reel Reviews: The Backrooms- Everything Must Go (2026)
Hey y'all let's see what's up today! Last month I went to see The Backrooms and I had a great time with it. I was excited to see that they were putting an extended release with 15 minutes of bonus footage in theaters tonight before the film is released on DVD and streaming services this Tuesday. As soon as I heard the announcement, I knew I had to grab a ticket because I enjoyed it so much the first time around. This time, however, I'm not flying solo to my film, I was able to convince my coworker to join me!
The Summary
The Backrooms follows Clark, a furniture store owner with a failing marriage and a drinking problem and his therapist Mary as they try to work through ghosts of their past and the monsters of their present. Clark finds a portal in the wall of his furniture store that leads him to an infinite maze of rooms, rooms that he has tried to map but can't seem to be able to find the end of.
Upon receiving a disturbing call from Clark, Mary's concern for his wellbeing and her own gnawing curiosity gets the better of her. She enters the gateway, marked with blue tape, and finds herself in The Backrooms where she must either confront her past to save her future or succumb to the madness that has taken hold of Clark.
The extended cut of this film shows us some evidence taken by the company ASYNC who has tasked themselves with exploring the Backrooms and documenting their findings.
The Review
The film was even better after a second watch, and honestly I could have gone through a third or fourth watch of it. The not-so-hidden message of "If you don't change your bad habits they may come back to bite you" was still, overall, the best takeaway from the film because it adds meaning to such a simple concept.
Just like with the first film, I do wish we got to see some more entities and areas of the Backrooms. However, what we do get to see is really well done and I really liked the way the shots were set up. An additional bonus for this is that they actually used practical effects and CGI animation to create the illusion of an endless space full of monsters as opposed to more modern methods. This is something that I will personally always praise because practical effects are very slowly being phased out as a byproduct of earlier filmmaking, however they add a sort of quirkiness and skill that I heavily appreciate.
As far as the baseline movie goes, my opinion of it has only become more positive. I feel like with a second watch I was less focused on taking in everything and more focused on trying to pick up the little clues that I missed. This is especially true with Clark's character.
On my first watch, I honestly felt bad for the guy. However, after the second watch I realized he was the true monster in the film. Clark is the type of man that blames all of his problems on someone else, he never takes accountability for his actions. This man-child mindset is what causes the Entity to view Clark as a safe person and it ensures Clark's survival to a point. It's also why Clark feels so secure in the Backrooms, because he can create his own reality where nothing is ever his fault.
When Mary finally drops her professional mask and forces Clark to confront his behavior he then becomes a threat. This is an incredibly tense and emotional moment in which the true message of the Backrooms is really felt. This is also where the usage of the practical effects is the heaviest and it's one of my favorite scenes in the entire film.
Of course the real reason we're revisiting the Backrooms isn't to discuss the same film over again, we're here for the extras! I won't lie to you guys, because that isn't my style, this extended cut kind of had me feeling like I was on the fence. The overall 15 minutes is very well made, and it adds a little bit more depth to the company ASYNC that we see investigating the Backrooms. However, this footage is presented to us after the credits of the film which I don't believe to be the best choice because it kimd of takes you out of the story only to try to force you back in in 15 minutes.
Closing
Despite the fact the extended cut wasn't what I was expecting at all, I still really love the film. The Backrooms is probably tied with Iron Lung for my favorite release this year so far and I hope they do more with it! Kane Parsons has a fantastic career ahead of him and I think he could really turn The Backrooms into a fantastic franchise if he really wanted to.
If you've already seen The Backrooms, I'd love to hear what you thought of the extended cut. Was the extra footage worth another trip to the theater, or would you have preferred it as a DVD extra? If you want to see more from me feel free to click the link below where you can find my other socials. Y'all take care, and thanks for stopping by!
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