Backrooms (2026) just came out a few days ago and it easily became one of my favorite films. a few reasons for it, but one of them is also because i talked briefly about liminal space in my university thesis. i will be breaking down my points.
talking about liminal space briefly, i would define it is a continuous space that induces the feel of uneasiness. what makes it uneasy is there is nothing there that could give you comfort.
— spatially . usually, when you enter a space — you would search for something similar, that can give you something to identify the space; to define the space itself. but backrooms give you none of that, it is empty, unfamiliar, and feels more like an absence of rather than of a place.
an object will trigger a movement out of your routine, but in liminal space there is no trigger. it’s just you entering a room and you going out of a room. there is nothing to expect, but that disability is what makes you feel uneasy and anxious. because as exciting as experiencing something new, we do like the ability to predict something. like what clark said in the movie; we ends up with something that we’re comfortable with.
in backrooms, they breakdown the places that we are familiar with — until the objects are gone or disfigured. you can see the process clearly from one of the show where they show the layers of how the real life became the liminal space; a shot of marie’s childhood living room and how it
disintegrated to an empty space. basically a simplification of a space that has so many emotional attachment to the person, suddenly became an emotionless and apathetic space. the familiar became unfamiliar. the comfort became discomfort.
— emotionally . we are, as cliché as it is, a creature of routine. we woke up, we work, we eat, we rest, and we sleep. it‘s as if we don’t have to think of what are we going to do that day; it’s almost unconscious. but in liminal space the space doesn’t hold you, it can not give you the chance to make a ritual or a routine out of it. it always forces you to think of where you are in the space itself. there is no nodes, no objects, and no activities inside. you just simply exist.
i explored this with studying The Truman Show (1998) in my thesis, the feeling of discomfort, unfamiliarity, and liminality is what truman experienced while he discovered that his world was not real. the space that was his home once became a stranger. there is a process of detachment from his own world that forces him to go outside of his world. there is a detachment from being stripped from his routine, the objects that was his everyday life slowly changes each day until his breaking point.
— plot wise . and maybe clark’s projection of the space is what makes him familiar with the backrooms. he is forced out of his routine; out of his home. it drove him crazy and he can’t process the uneasiness of him being forced out of his routine. he likes the unfamiliarity of the backroom. it is what his mind looks like. he is wired to be disliked; and he found a friend in there, another version of himself. this friend who is like him; will disregard anyone who comes to his life — even himself.
i see both a similarity and a contrast between both films. truman entered a sense of liminality where he became a stranger and the world became a strange place, while clark entered an actual liminal space where he projected himself and found comfort in the ambiguity of the place itself. maybe i’m reaching (it is a strong possibility) but i love the focus on these both characters.
although i like the film, i like backroom as a concept, as an idea that is needed to be explored; not a sci-fi, not a conspiracy film. in my opinion, it’s a pity that it has to be defined and explained as a science project. understanding that liminality is something that is ambiguous, why wouldn’t you keep the film also having the same vague feeling? it would be much more interesting. but i still would put Backrooms (2026) on my top film list, of course it will be besides The Truman Show (1998).
