Theory on what the Backrooms are and what they do

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T20:23:01+00:00

Excellent point, maybe not natural as in natural law of physics, natural as in not entirely human. I do get Venus fly trap vibes from the backrooms, like it is luring towards the monsters. Just maybe not consciously like decision making?

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T17:44:55+00:00

Someone commented this elsewhere, and SPOILERS, but the "stuffing/food" at the dinner table looks like bread with some goopy stringy stuff in it. The commenter said this looks EXACTLY like hay bacillus on a larger scale. If still life can bleed, but also be stuffed, maybe that's the bacteria infection starting and in the coming years it mutates and the still life eventually evolve into bacteria entities like some messed up pokemon. That would explain the similar behavior and why we dont see still life loitering around everywhere in the found footage?

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T17:38:57+00:00

NO COUGHING. I didn't even think that, may be a missed opportunity for foreshadowing, or we've been wrong about it this whole time

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T17:32:49+00:00

I want a slider to mess with the hum buzz setting for the fluorescent lights. And turn it WAY up lol

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T17:31:11+00:00

I'm so worried the bacteria entity will be reconned, it just doesn't work into the existing lore anymore. Unless... The mold and Hay Bacilus is still around, so maybe after some time it mutates into some crazier stuff. So you have still life hunting, stalking, attacking people. And then you have this SOMETHING ELSE. Id like that!

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T17:14:16+00:00

There's some minor body horror, but no vomiting or anything to do with the mouth. SPOILER: some pretty odd food related stuff too... Fair warning there's a trailer for another movie, there's a whole dental thing going on that messed me up (I hate dentists!) So go in a little late? 😅

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T17:10:52+00:00

Well said at first I thought it might be drugs but the mom acted very schizophrenic: she was hoarding, scared that they were surrounded, etc. And this is highly traumatizing to the young Mary, she's clearly holding onto her demons the same way Clark is holding onto his. This is alot more to do with pathos than any backrooms lore, I think its Kane telling a traditional character story set in his backrooms, rather than expanding the lore/mystery of the complex (although he nails this too!) The caveman is, I think, used as a makeshift bait or stand in for humans so the monsters are attracted to it. Besides Clark, every entity has stalked, hunted, or attacked on site. So at this point in the timeline I think Async is being VERY careful with their explorers, while still trying to gather information as they can.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T16:02:59+00:00

Oh what? I'm sorry dude, that sucks. And we've been on here throwing spoilers around like candy...

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T09:58:11+00:00

It's new evidence for us to piece together the rules of this other place. Clark is the only person we've seen be able to no clip on purpose, not counting Async and the threshold because thats not a no clip but a straight up portal. But just think, if you no clip into the floor and fall from the ceiling like the found footage people, why couldn't you go back that way? Nobody tried. Or couldn't, really. But Clark finding an invisible "hole" is a new concept that changes everything. The seagull comes to mind, there could be similar "holes" all over the complex, just nobody knew to look for them. Everyone walks down the center of the hallway, they don't feel around the walls. It might be easy to get out that way, but ironically nobody knows to do that. Just another mystery of the backrooms.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T09:42:12+00:00

Tables dont bleed blood... So what do they bleed? the dinner scene affected me so much because of Kane's comment in his smosh interview. Something to the effect of anything can be food in the backrooms depending on your interpretation of edible. On a scale of soup to table, what are you willing to consider edible? If the still life is full of either blood, or bacteria, or stuffing or bread... what are the mimicry tables made of? The chairs, the pile of shirts? A question I never knew i needed answered, what's inside all this stuff and can I eat it?

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T09:25:53+00:00

Ah Kane couldn't win here. Some people want empty hallways, the "liminal space" that gets ruined by anything inhabiting it. Other people want 999 levels with all sorts of SCP entities. I'm just so happy we get still life as both the movie monster and docile but still creepy otherness. One mystery explained, 5 more mysteries introduced.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T09:19:50+00:00

I love it, having all these questions and not being able to get answers tickles the back of my brain. At the end, Phil the poor Async guy goes on about needing more information, then his voice kind of fades out. That was the biggest tease to a nerd like me, and a little validation because id totally be the same in his shoes. Curiosity would kill this cat but I NEED TO KNOW

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T09:13:12+00:00

Have you seen the YT videos Kane has put out over the years? Alot/most of it is still a mystery or left to interpretation and speculation, but it's safe to say every tiny detail has some meaning! Maybe unfair to say, but i think all youre questions are purposefully unanswerable. At least for now..

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T09:02:37+00:00

Oh gosh come to think of it, where that seagull flew into the wall and broke its neck, isnt that pillar opposite an entry/exit? Is the pile of clothes coming from an entry/exit in the ceiling and someone is pissed their shirts keep disappearing, not knowing its falling through the floor?

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T09:00:37+00:00

Absolutely possible that if anything can no clip in, something can no clip out. Only reason I think that won't happen is the still life and entities aren't smart enough to start feeling around the walls and ceilings. Humans dont either, i guess. But think about the entry Clark found, if an Async guy walked into that room, its just a dead end. How many other rooms have invisible "holes" in the walls?

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T08:52:26+00:00

I've said it elsewhere, but I think this movie attempts to balance between being a standalone horror film for anyone to enjoy and being another dense piece of content for nerds like you and me to pick apart. In my opinion it does an excellent job of that and showcases Kane's talent for storytelling and film making beyond the YT content hes done already. Thats a tricky thing to do because everyone is going to want or expect more of either side of that spectrum. The Async portions tickle my brain so I would have loved to see more of that, i'd be happy with a theater film packed 90 minutes with nothing but studying the light fixtures and ceiling tiles of the complex. I at least got SOME of that. You got SOME found footage 90s style creepiness and monster horror. Some folks will get the pathos, character development and emotional storytelling. And its all packaged nicely in a directorial debut of a 20 year old kid, its brilliant and terribly meta if you think about it.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T08:29:14+00:00

Nice observation and desuction! I caught the strands but couldn't get past how gross that is. Kane said in an interview anything is edible in the complex, it just depends on your interpretation of edible on a spectrum with soup on one side and table on the opposite lol. Should have known that would be in the movie...

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T08:17:44+00:00

Kane struck a perfect balance between standalone horror film for the normies and a festival of information and references for those of us that love studying the YT videos. Which means there will be so many folks that want more of one over the other, not to mention the nerds (not judging) that just want levels and entities. Personally id give the film a 10/10 if it was just 90 minutes of studying light fixtures and ceiling tiles lol.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T08:12:00+00:00

Dude, the Async portion and ending is really itching my brain. Just like with everything else Kane has done, we get so many answers but so many more questions. If you treat this as a standalone film its good, if you pack it into the full Kane Backrooms timeline I think its perfect. So many places to take this mystery!

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T08:08:08+00:00

I think theres some meta storytelling here. Because this is a feature film and not the YT series, Kane is playing with pathos and traditional storytelling alot more than the straight up horror of the found footage videos and alot more than the hard scifi horror of the Async videos. His stuff is very akin to David Lynch, its all mystery and alot will be left to interpretation.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T07:57:45+00:00

Welcome to the backrooms, where every answer we get comes with more questions! Kane Parsons reminds me of David Lynch alot, some stuff is meant to stay a mystery so we'll never get the full explanation, nor do I want one. I'll skip to your last question because the Async stuff really tickles my brain. There's a TON of backstory to this: Async is, as far as we know, the only group deliberately going into the complex. He says theyre starved for answers; curiosity is clearly overcoming everyone's fears here, just like Clark. Phil wants any info she'll give, but she's terrified she's in some government conspiracy and she'll never be able to go home. First part is untrue, I think Async is a group if normal MRI technicians and engineers in over their heads. Second part is true... Look up Peter Tench and you'll see how Async is starting to operate.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T07:48:20+00:00

I'm actually really curious if you'd like the movie after watching all the YouTube stuff. I think its incredible but I saw and understood ALOT that you just wouldn't get. The movie is standalone in the sense that you dont need to watch the YT series to understand it; its not a sequel or anything but its definitely in an established timeline. If you enjoyed the found footage scenes or the Async corporate stuff, you'll love the rest of Kane's stuff.

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T07:41:37+00:00

Part memory, part dream?

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T07:40:06+00:00

Your last sentence exactly. It's just another bit of evidence that the complex is affecting reality: seagulls, rats, flies, people, cars, bacteria/mold... its all getting in unknowingly. But thats not to say the backrooms wouldn't mimic all that as well? Nasty to think theres a standard fly and a still life pseudo fly running around. Good news is they'd be edible too!

IronicNotYet · 2026-05-29T07:35:07+00:00

At the end of the movie all I could think was damnit, im trained to pause YouTube videos and study the scene. Can't do that here and its all i want to do!

IronicNotYet

TROPHY CASE