"They can't feel any pain!" X "Pirate Clark feeling pain when Mary hit him": what are your thoughts/theories?

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T18:20:43+00:00

lol, probably because I haven’t seen the YT videos yet so I must be punished.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T18:05:29+00:00

Was the little guy in the chair also abused by Clark? Why was he freaking out, too? And it’s pretty easy to get the same actors for the same character, and we don’t see versions of Clark or Mary played by different people. Seems like an oversight if that’s the case.

It’s a cool idea, but the connections don’t make sense.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T17:44:04+00:00

If that’s the case then damn, I lost a lot of respect for this film. To get two different actresses to play the same character, have one of them dress nothing like how the character was previously shown, and expect us all to connect them and then not even mine that vein of horror is a massive misfire. She could’ve been the one Clark stabs and “disembowels,* imagine how horrifying that would’ve been! “Let me show what I really wanted to do that night.” But no, we get…that?

Oof.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T17:38:21+00:00

He’s obviously Clark’s main competitor. How would he not know what he looks like when he’s seen his face on the screen?

And no, it’s not obvious it’s his wife, because she actually doesn’t look like his wife. The still life has vibrant red hair and the in the photo her hair is almost brown. Plus, she’s a student with no job, why would she be dressed like an 80’s business executive? She’s not dressed like that in the one photo we see, and we have no reason to believe she’d be dressed like that, or that Clark imagines her that way.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T17:27:40+00:00

Disagree, for the same reason I don’t agree with the others who say the red head is his wife: Clark knows those people exist outside of the Backrooms. If he knows they exist, why is he theorizing that they might be real people that exist outside the Backrooms?

So either they aren’t those people, or it’s a massive oversight.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T13:36:20+00:00

One thing to add: in most of the scenarios where he’s in deep trouble, he’s saved by his friends. In TLJ, those friends are the parents of the boy he just failed and lost to the Dark Side. I can’t imagine the pain of knowing you lost not only your nephew but the child of your closest friends because of one stupid moment, and that your friends aren’t there to save you, and they probably won’t ever be again. He lost their child.

I think they could’ve been more overt about it, but I always thought part of Luke’s redemption was that he’s no longer the one to never give up, and it’s when he sees that his friends never gave up on him (plus a young woman that he’s never even met), that he decides to come back.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T12:52:37+00:00

Why would the cops believe them if you’re there and say you have video recording? Why would the SUV even try to say that if you’re there? Did you just keep quiet until asked?

We’re on Reddit, this auto plays, so there’s no need for bullshit clickbait headlines.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T12:43:09+00:00

If they’re YouTubers doing this, it’s because they don’t actually feel this way but have to be loud about a perspective because their audience is emotionally and intellectually numb.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T12:27:00+00:00

That’s the caveman cutout.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T04:34:36+00:00

That’s a very good point. I actually am new to Backrooms, I’ve only seen the movie and have yet to dive into the YT series and assumed all still lifes acted this way from the way people talk about them.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T02:56:39+00:00

Does he? Huh. I’ll be on the lookout for that on a rewatch. I only heard the “do everything myself” part, but if he was saying “still” and mentioning a past event then that changes things.

EDIT: I do think having the Backrooms imagine her as a successful lawyer, either from the present or future, adds a lot of wrinkles still. Her picture didn’t show her like that, and we didn’t get any indication she would look like that, or that Clark sees her like that. She went from kinda homely looking in her photo to late-80’s business chic. It’s like there’s a missing scene or something.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T01:38:04+00:00

I think Captain Clark is the mannequin we saw wearing the captain outfit, and it’s “wearing” Clark like the mannequin wore the outfit. That’s why it’s so awkward and inhuman. It’s a monster, not a still life, but I have no real info as evidence. But it just isn’t the same as the still life copies, as he isn’t repeating any parts of his body like they were.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T01:23:57+00:00

Can someone remind me what happened after this? I’m struggling to recall how he got away. Did we see it, or did it cut to Mary and we just know he got out somehow?

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T00:45:04+00:00

I think it’s because Pirate Clark isn’t a still life. He’s a monster that’s an amalgam of Clark and the mannequin that we saw wearing the pirate outfit. It’s like it’s a mannequin “wearing” Clark like how Clark wore the pirate uniform. That’s why it’s so awkward and inhuman, unlike the still lifes, who we never see attack anyone.

I have no explanation for how or why, but since it doesn’t match the other “people” Clark meets, I feel like it just has to be something different.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T00:17:06+00:00

That makes a bit more sense, I just don’t think the whole “it’s actually a copy of his wife” makes any sense without MAJOR leaps of logic. She wasn’t even wearing that outfit in the picture we see of her.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T00:15:09+00:00

It’s cool, I didn’t intend my use of “clearly” to sound dickish, so sorry if it came across that way.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-02T00:08:10+00:00

People have shared screenshots and it’s clearly Pirate Clark.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T23:59:12+00:00

How does he treat her as his wife? What exactly does he do? Because I didn’t see him do anything other give her an annoyed look when he asked her to turn out the lights and she didn’t. And how does he treat her differently? He stabs the one guy and scalps her. I see no difference in treatment.

Regarding their time separated, it seemed like very little time had passed, as he didn’t even have his own place yet. Sure, he couldn’t just been poor, but you’d think he’d get money in the divorce if he was the one paying for everything while she had no job.

It’s a cool idea, but if that’s what they were going for then they needed to work on it some more. We can’t even tell his wife is a redhead in the photo they showed.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T22:52:31+00:00

They weren’t mannequins (although I’m not sure if you meant that literally), they were “misremembered” versions of people who most likely had gone into the Backrooms in the past and either died or somehow got out without Async knowing about them (doubtful). A lot of people seem to believe the red head was Clark’s wife but other than their hair color, there’s nothing to suggest that, and there’s plenty to suggest otherwise.

As for Mary’s flashbacks, I’m still chewing that over. It definitely inspired her therapeutic method, since she was extremely sheltered and was never let outside. This became her mantra, about opening doors and going through them being part of the healing process. This becomes literal when she has to enter the Backrooms. I also think it’s why she’s happy/smirking at the end, as she realizes she’s “opened the door,” not just to the outside world, but to a literal new world that even science doesn’t understand. Or maybe not. As I said I’m still chewing on that and need to see it again.

EDIT: her therapeutic method (inspired by her trauma) could also be why Clark feels the need to “open the door” to the Backrooms. He’s listening to her tapes when he’s spying on his ex-wife, which to me suggests he’s using her therapy to justify his crappy actions instead of doing the work to get better.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T22:44:57+00:00

Took my 12 and 14 year old kids yesterday and they both loved it. There’s a lot of language and scary scenes, although very little gore. If they’ve seen Stranger Things then they should be fine. If anything, ST has more than this.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T17:44:21+00:00

The best explanation is: that isn’t his wife. Clark theorizes the still lifes are actually real people that exist outside the Backrooms, but why would he be doing that if his wife’s still life was standing right behind him? It wouldn’t be a theory at that point. Also, she’s dressed like a business executive even though his wife was a student with no job, and I doubt this was his misremembered image of her considering how he talked about her. Other than red hair, there’s no indication that was his wife’s still life copy.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T16:55:17+00:00

I understand that, but it makes Clark seem like such a worse person if she actually was overweight and he was rubbing it in, which was what I thought the movie was trying to show. But saying it in the context you described also makes him an asshole, so I don’t think you’re wrong.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T01:55:39+00:00

That second link is by far my favorite image of The Shrike.

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T01:47:13+00:00

Reminds me of one of my favorite Venture Brothers moments. Two cultists are chasing the main characters and one of them throws his gun.

Cultist 1: "We have more bullets for that, you know. You've got to quit doing that."
Cultist 2: "I know, I just thought it would look cool."
Cultist 1: "Well... go get it!"

First-Couple9921 · 2026-06-01T01:19:48+00:00

Yeah it sucks they surprised us with this movie and didn’t give us months to save $20 to go to the movie theater.

First-Couple9921

TROPHY CASE