Backrooms releases in theaters on May 29, meaning A24 is ramping up marketing. After initial rumors that it would be rated R, the MPA soon confirmed it, specifically for "language and some violent content/bloody images." Alongside its official rating, the studio released new footage revealing that the creepypasta adaptation will have at least one iconic monster.
While there have been countless video games and film shorts based on the premise since its 2019 inception on 4chan, none have been more influential than the YouTube web series created by Parsons, simply titled The Backrooms. Some fans of liminal horror have often resented the inclusion of monsters in the Backrooms, believing it distracts from the horror of isolation and solitude from the concept. For those fans, two new Backrooms teasers confirmed that Dr. Kline and Clark won't be alone in the Backrooms.
The first teaser has new dialogue, with an unseen character telling the camera, "I've never been out this far...there's something else in here!" This suggests that whatever's with them in the Backrooms isn't human.
The second teaser gives audiences the first glimpse of a monster inside the Backrooms, and it's by far the most iconic one from the web series: the Lifeform.
The monster made its debut in Parsons' first Backrooms video, Found Footage, giving chase to the faceless cameraman. In this second teaser for Backrooms, Finn Bennett's character encounters a similar monster hiding in a darkened corner before fleeing in terror.
While the creature's design has varied over the course of Parson's web series, its appearance in Backrooms is the most dramatically different. No longer comprised of thin, black squiggles forming a poorly rendered stickman, the Lifeform in Backrooms has greater mass and more fluid movement.
Additionally, it appears to have something growing out of its faceless head, like antlers. However, it's unlikely that the Lifeform will be the only monster to roam the Backrooms in this film adaptation.
Directed by Kane Parsons, Backrooms stars Renate Reinsve of A Different Man fame as a concerned therapist named Dr. Mary Kline, and her patient, Clark, played by former Doctor Strange villain Chiwetel Ejiofor. The two end up trapped in the titular Backrooms as they try to escape, all the while avoiding all its dangers.
What Other Monsters Will Appear in Backrooms?
Unlike the many unrelated video games that feature dozens of monsters, Kane Parsons' version of the Backrooms has been conservative with its entities, introducing only two so far in his web series: The Lifeform and Still Life.
The newest monster added to Parsons' lore, Still Life, was introduced almost two years ago in Found Footage #3, in which the short film's cameraman, Ravi, was relentlessly hunted across the Backrooms by a monster only barely resembling a human. Unlike the Lifeform, it could exhibit human-like behavior, like knocking on doors and turning lights on and off.
If the Lifeform is making its feature film debut, it's almost guaranteed that Still Life will follow. This is especially likely, as it encapsulates the film's theme strongly: the Backrooms attempt to "remember" and recreate a human being.
Not to mention that, in the first teaser, viewers also hear Clark shouting, "Stay back! Get away from me!" He could be screaming this at the people in hazmat suits or even Dr. Kline, but what if the store owner was shouting it at something he could mistake for human? After all, Ravi said almost the same desperate cries when Still Life began to chase him down.
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