Independent studio A24 has a major hit on its hands with Backrooms, filled with existential horror and monsters. However, in its trailers, many fans jumped to the conclusion that the monster would be the iconic Life Form entity. Instead, this movie focuses exclusively on director and co-writer Kane Parsons' other monstrosity, Still Life—an uncanny attempt by the Backrooms to replicate people.
Originally debuting in "Found Footage #3" from Parsons' original Backrooms online series, this entity was far more intelligent than the Life Form but just as threatening, knocking on doors and turning on light switches like a person would, all while stalking its targets. These entities make their unobscured appearances in Backrooms, some more dangerous than others.
Every Still Life Seen in the Backrooms
Cap'n Clark
By far the most deadly of the Still Life creatures seen in Backrooms is the one that copies Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor of Doctor Strange fame) when he wore his Cap'n Clark costume for his commercials. From the opening of Backrooms, this monster is established as a true threat when it kills an Async researcher. It later drags Bobby (played by True Detective's Finn Bennett) deeper into the complex, leaving only a blood trail behind.
Instead of hurting Clark, it let the store owner travel with him through the Backrooms for weeks unharmed. Clark's influence on the creature would ultimately lead to the store owner's gruesome demise. As the entity was an imperfect reflection of Clark, it also inherited his rage, which it unleashed on Clark when he tried to talk it down from hurting Mary, earning the movie its R-rating.
By the end of the movie, Async finally subdues the creature and forges ahead with its plans to map the Backrooms, but that doesn't mean it's free of threats.
Mary
The ending of Backrooms suggests a new predator has emerged in the eldritch labyrinth. As Async questions Mary (A Different Man star Renate Reinsve), the movie cuts back to inside the complex, where a Still Life of Mary sits, waiting motionlessly with a misshapen face and hands.
Clark wasn't the only one with repressed anger, shown through Mary's screams and expletives at her former patient, telling him that everything that's wrong with him was his fault. A reaction no doubt triggered by her own unresolved issues with her mentally ill mother. Her rage even rivaled his when she relentlessly smashed her childhood memento into the face of Clark's copy until its blood covered her.
Unlike the rest of the entities seen in Backrooms, Mary's Still Life could be as volatile and liable to kill someone as the living furniture store mascot. It's even possible that, while the real Mary may have left behind her grief and resentment and chosen another path forward, her feelings and anger could have been carried over into her Still Life—a potentially lethal threat for anyone who stumbles across it.
Redheaded Woman
Clark first encountered it when he became separated from his assistant manager, Kat, and found himself in a dark room lit by an ominous Christmas tree. It staggered out of the darkness, lumbering toward Clark, which sent him into a frightened panic. However, after a time skip, this Still Life became docile in Clark's presence.
The dinner scene strongly suggested that this Still Life is a crude depiction of Clark's wife, Barbara, seen only once in an old photo inside Clark's store, with her most distinctive feature being her red hair. Something that Clark scalps off the Still Life's head during the dinner scene to give to Mary as a wig to better roleplay as his wife.
What's even more interesting is that this copied person reacts with fear upon the imminent arrival of Clark's lopsided Still Life. Potentially alluding to Clark's relationship with his wife being more abusive than previously implied through his therapy sessions. Of course, it was only harmless to Clark, so there's no telling if it would be more willing to hurt anyone else who wanders into the Backrooms.
Bearded Man and Archibald Leland Sutter
By far the two most harmless Life Forms seen in Backrooms, with the Bearded Man essentially a lifeless doll that Clark can stab without it even showing a hint of pain. He even uses it as a disgusting source of food for him and Mary's dinner.
But then there's the one in the wheelchair, credited as Archibald Leland Sutter, which is somehow even odder than Clark's Still Life. It has no legs, an uneven face with glasses, and a decorative lamp attached to its wheelchair that it habitually flicks on to illuminate dark spaces, to Clark's appreciation during dinner.
From life-threatening terrors like Cap'n Clark or the benign non-threats with Archibald, these Still Life entities reflect and exaggerate aspects of people in the real world. It'll be curious what Kane Parsons does with these monsters in the inevitable sequel.
