Experiencing the film Backrooms feels like unlocking a new kind of terror. We’ve all heard of haunted houses. But what about haunted commercial buildings? Or, more specifically, haunted office spaces?

Something is unsettling about a large, well-lit space that goes on forever, room after room. In Backrooms, we see desks with no people, chairs stacked in odd ways, hallways slanting steeply downward. The effect is eerie. And what is that sound we hear? Is there somebody—or some thing—down here?

One of the most unsettling parts of this film—and there are many—is how this space seems like such a personal hell for a character named Clark (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor). Clark discovers the back rooms in the basement of his furniture store while he is fixing a breaker box late one night.

A little background on Clark. He’s a struggling, middle-aged entrepreneur on a slow downward spiral. His wife has left him. His business is not doing well. He drinks too much. He is down to sleeping in his own store. Clark complains about his life to his therapist, but he does not seem to accept any personal responsibility for his problems. Now he is watching his life evaporate inside his empty shop. Bankruptcy may be on the way.

Under his store, he discovers the........

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