В «Behind the Scenes» The most terrifying creature lurking in the sickly yellow labyrinth may well be you.
Screen adaptation of digital folklore, , film "Behind the Scenes"« directed by YouTuber Kain Parsons, who turned a viral creepypasta into a surreal horror film.
The film "Behind the Scenes"« It takes the viewer into the mind of a furniture salesman stuck in a stagnation in his life and ends abruptly, hinting at a possible sequel.
Warning! Spoilers ahead!
What is the plot of the movie "Behind the Scenes"?
The entrance to Backstage is discovered by Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who, after a brutal divorce, is living in his inexpensive furniture store, tormented by bitter resentment over how things turned out.
After a thoughtful conversation with his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinswe), it becomes clear that Clark is having a hard time coming to terms with his role in the breakdown of his marriage.
Clark blames his wife for his furniture sales, a depressing role that sometimes requires him to appear in ridiculous commercials dressed as a pirate.
However, Clark finds a way to escape his mundane life when he uses the "walk through wall" feature on the store's lower floor to explore the back rooms.
Here, the "Backstage" is recreated with absolute accuracy, exactly as it was imagined on the internet: flickering fluorescent lights and carpets whose smell you can practically smell through the screen.
The endless office labyrinth is strewn with random, eerie objects, often embedded in the floor and walls. Everything artificial is at home here—"Backstage" absorbs the tasteless trophies of commercialism.
Realizing that a mysterious, aggressive creature is wandering the corridors, Clark manages to escape, but something in the Backstage draws him.
He returns to the other world, enlisting two of his employees, Bobby (Finn Bennett) and Kat (Lukita Maxwell), to accompany him and document the proceedings on camera.
It's familiar territory for Parsons, who has been creating viral Backrooms videos for YouTube since 2022, and these pixelated first-person scenes are among the most unsettling in the film.
After a deadly encounter with the monster, Mary, searching for her client, discovers the entrance to Backstage. She finds Clark there and quickly realizes he's gone mad.
Clark sits her down for a deeply disturbing "dinner," explaining that he's fallen in love with Backstage and its twisted inhabitants.
Clark forces his therapist to repeat their previous conversation, demanding that she absolve him of blame for the divorce. Instead, Mary blurts out her true feelings, blaming Clark for the dire state of his life.
This moment is interrupted by the appearance of a monster, which turns out to be a crippled version of Clark's pirate persona.
Clark explains to the monster that the therapist confirmed he was right, and in response, the monster devours him.
Why did the monster from "Behind the Scenes" eat Clark?
In this scene, Clarke lays out the main idea of the film, explaining that the Backstage contains fragmented and distorted memories from the outside.
Backstage is the subconscious of the modern world: everyone who enters there leaves behind a piece of themselves.
In Clark's case, the monstrous pirate embodies his worst traits, his stagnation and unrealized potential. When Clark decides to remain in the Underworld, he indulges in denial and escapism.
As Clark notes, the inhabitants of Backstage feel no pain—they don't even seem alive—and yet he envies them.
When Clark rejects the truth, forcing Mary to confirm his delusions, the vicious cycle is complete and Clark becomes completely self-absorbed.
The ending of the series "Behind the Scenes": explained
Mary flees from the terrifying creature, running through increasingly distorted and dream-like spaces, with the Backstage becoming increasingly abstract as she moves deeper.
Finally, she finds herself in a room full of gas cylinders, which are activated when a cardboard cutout topples over. She escapes the monster, fending it off with a memento from her traumatic childhood.
Men in hazmat suits take her to a laboratory, where she sees that the monster has been captured.
She is interrogated by a researcher named Phil (Mark Duplass), who works for the mysterious company Async, which used to make MRI machines and is now studying the "Backstage".
Phil hints that Backstage is a world-changing discovery, and that the former MRI company was apparently studying how brain waves influence the structure of this otherworldly labyrinth.
Behind-the-scenes footage, now infused with Mary's memories, gives way to the revelation that Mary herself has been copied and become one of the twisted inhabitants Clark once admired.
Mary is not saved - it seems she is destined to participate in Async's experiments, doomed to return to the Backstage to face her own trauma and, perhaps, her worst sides.
Will there be a sequel to the movie "Behind the Scenes"?
While A24 hasn't officially confirmed a sequel, the film hints at a larger storyline.
In an interview with Polygon, Parsons explained that «Behind the Scenes» may be the first of several films.
«"This film is the first part of what I'd like to see unfold over several story stages, in terms of getting closer to what I consider the true essence of the idea. I just don't think it can be achieved in the time allotted for one film.".
«"For me personally, a series would be ideal," Parsons said. "I think that's the most practical way to achieve what I want story-wise.".
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This article was originally published on Forbes.com.