You may leave Backstage if you're lucky, but Backstage may never leave you. This summer horror hit, «Behind the Scenes» , is now in theaters. But while its mysteries will captivate audiences, it's the ending that may linger long after the credits roll.
В in the film "Behind the Scenes"« , Directed by YouTube wunderkind Kayn Parsons, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a furniture salesman named Clark who discovers an endless labyrinth of beige horrors known as "Backstage." After Ejiofor convinces his employees to help him map the place, his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinswe), follows him inside and discovers the monstrous horrors that dwell there. Meanwhile, a shady corporation called Async is also conducting research into this ever-shifting dimension.
Based on a popular internet legend that originated on 4chan, film "Behind the Scenes"« promises to be the biggest horror blockbuster of the summer after «"Obsessions"» . But what to do with the mysterious final shot? «Behind the Scenes» What exactly happens at the end? film , and how could it set the stage for sequels and spin-offs? Here's how to decipher the ending. «Behind the Scenes» .
Warning: Spoilers for the following film "Behind the Scenes"« .
Renate Reinsve plays in in the film "Behind the Scenes"« the role of Dr. Mary Kline, whose fate is closely tied to the film's mysterious ending. A24
Near the end of the film, Mary follows Clark into Backstage. She finds him wallowing in self-pity and wracked with guilt over the deaths of his employees. During his absence, Clark has created a strange home for himself in Backstage, complete with its "inhabitants"—clumsy simulacra of people best described as poorly drawn video game avatars.
When Clark is convinced to release Mary, a monstrous version of Clark—officially referred to in the script as "Lifeform"—appears and kills Clark. The Lifeform pursues Mary through Backstage until it is subdued by Async scientists. Async takes the Lifeform (presumably for study), and Mary is taken to an interrogation room. There, she is interrogated by Phil (Mark Duplass), one of Async's top Backstage researchers, and learns what little the shady company currently knows.
Async, a company originally focused on MRI machines, discovered the mysterious Backstages and devoted its resources to studying them. Phil tells her that the Backstages seem to function as a kind of echo chamber for memories; this is why many places in the Backstages seem familiar but imperfect, as our memories cannot fully capture the places or people we've seen.
At this moment «Behind the Scenes» The film ends with a silent montage that recreates locations from Mary's memories, such as her childhood home. We then see a version of Mary recreated in Backstage, sitting alone. It seems Mary spent just enough time in Backstage for the place to absorb and create an image of her that will remain there forever.
This is just our opinion, and it may not be exactly what Parsons intended (more on that later), but «Behind the Scenes» — is, at its core, a film exploring how memories, feelings, and traumas can become a prison. Clark, traumatized by divorce and haunted by unfulfilled dreams of a career as an architect, is emotionally trapped by his own shortcomings. Tellingly, the film begins with Clark in therapy, performing role-playing exercises to understand where his life went "wrong," from his perspective.
Dr. Mary Kline finds herself in a similar situation. Growing up in an abusive family, cut off from the outside world, Mary is not entirely free of her own trauma. She constantly has dreams (or nightmares) about her childhood; even when her house is torn down, her handprint remains in the cement driveway.
Our interpretation ending of "Backstage"« is this: Mary will forever remain a part of him. Perhaps she will be free of him in the end (at least for now), but it is not something that will leave her so easily. Just as Mary will likely remember and even dream of Backstage again, Backstage now remembers Mary, and a half-forgotten version of itself will forever remain within it.
Kane Parsons confirms one thing about the ending «Behind the Scenes» : This is not a dream. A24
What Kane Parsons Says About the Ending of the Series «Behind the Scenes» ?
When we interviewed Kane Parsons last month, we asked him point-blank to decipher the ending. The director politely declined. "Perhaps I'm breaking with the tradition of directors explaining their work," Parsons told us.
«"I've always been disappointed when I hear someone I admire talk about their work," he said. "Personally, I don't really enjoy it, especially when it involves narrative or explicit things. I could say exactly what it meant to me and what it was supposed to mean, but I don't want that information to become public knowledge.".
One of the reasons Parsons is so keen to keep the biggest secrets «"Behind the Scenes", is to allow the legions of internet fans of myths and lore to interpret them for themselves. "I want people to be able to look at [the film] without distortion. Some people have drawn certain conclusions from it, and I haven't decided yet whether to voice those conclusions. It's a classic case of: 'How You “What do you think this means?»
But Parsons was willing to confirm one thing: "It wasn't a dream," he says.
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