Matt's Theater Thoughts: Backrooms and Obsession
Finally caught up with two of the biggest horror films of May.
Over the weekend, I caught a double-billed screening of Backrooms and Obsession at my local Garden Drive-In. Both of which deal with characters within a claustrophobic environment within their own different ways, as well as being directed by people who’ve made short films on YouTube with Kane Parsons (feature directorial debut) and Curry Barker, respectively. I had heard so much buzz about these two films for the last few days and I figured it was a perfect time to get caught up with them both. I also have to credit both films for having a runtime that’s under two hours, as I’ve been sick and tired of seeing recent movies bloat their runtime without justifying their length. Anyways, let’s get started on my thoughts for both films!
Backrooms
Plot Summary: Clark, a furniture store owner, and his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline, discover a dimension of seemingly endless liminal spaces accessed through the basement of the store.
Backrooms is an entertaining if not flawed horror film. I appreciated Kane Parsons’ vision as it provides some creepy atmosphere, as well as having a score that fits within the world it’s creating. The use of sound within the film also helps establish the tone it’s trying to capture pretty well. I also really like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve’s performances here, even if they aren’t AS great as their Oscar-nominated work in the past with 12 Years a Slave or Sentimental Value, respectively. Still, they’re giving good performances to an otherwise fine script.
In fact, I think that might be the biggest problem I have with the film is that while it has some interesting visuals the script is serviceable. Which is fine if the story kept to its vague, David Lynch-like style of relying more on the weird visions and less on characters. However, the film treats these characters like there’s real depth to them which isn’t there for me. I understand Clark and Mary’s internal struggles, but they don’t explore much of their characters that I found satisfying without beating the messages over the audience’s heads. It even ends on an ambiguous ending that may leave audiences scratching their head on what they just witnessed.
Regardless, I still found some enjoyment out of it. If nothing else, I’m excited to see what Kane does next as a director. I’m also not familiar with his webseries this is based upon, but I am at least curious in checking the show out after watching this film. Check it out if you’re the least bit interested in what you’ve seen from the trailers!
Obsession
Plot Summary: After breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic by the name of Bear finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
As of now, Obsession has made well over $100 million and has become a smash hit at the box-office on a reported budget of a million dollars. And with the hype surrounding this film since its Toronto International Film Festival premiere, I thought that this would be another underwhelming experience due to the buzz surrounding it. Recently, there have been a few films within the horror genre that failed to capture my unbelievably high expectations. Thankfully, I thoroughly enjoyed this flick.
For starters, the performances by the small ensemble are really good, especially Inde Navarrette. She’s really good at playing Nikki, who’s able to create a tightrope balance on her being this psychotic, clingy girlfriend to Bear but also showcases signs that she’s taken over by some paranormal demon of sorts (the film doesn’t go too much into these “One Wish Willow” items). I would be shocked if Inde doesn’t get more roles after this, because man! Does she prove that she’s a terrific actress who’s got range.
I also appreciate a film like this isn’t asking us to sympathize with Bear (at least that’s the vibes I got from it as the film went along), who showcases throughout the film his selfishness. But in a similar way that reminded me of the Safdie’s films like Good Time or Uncut Gems, where these characters are in these fucked-up situations that they could fix but refuse to because they’re in denial over their problems. Any lesser filmmaker would ask the audience to feel bad for our lead throughout the film, but I like that they didn’t and instead sprinkle in some darkly comedic moments to the film, including a customer support call which was voiced by the director himself.
There’s also a terrific score by Rock Burwell, which adds in this dream-like synthesizer to the atmosphere. I also love the cinematography by Taylor Clemons, which incorporates usage of shadows especially when Bear is talking with Nikki within his home; it’s as if he’s talking with a figment of Nikki herself as oppose to chatting with Nikki as a human being. Usually I’d have a problem with the drive-ins having such a dark screen to where I couldn’t see much, but it was one of the few times the director’s intentions of making it purposefully dark actually helped set the uneasy tone.
I could go on and on about my thoughts for Obsession, but I definitely want to give this another watch down the road to see what else I can get out of it. From what I got from this viewing, I’m happy that the film matched the expectations I had for it. I’m definitely curious about Curry Barker’s next film, and I hope these actors are able to get a solid career out of this, especially Inde Navarrette who really does a fantastic job in the film.
