{"id":3232,"date":"2026-07-15T18:49:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/williamjcobb.com\/blog\/?p=3232"},"modified":"2026-07-16T00:17:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T00:17:26","slug":"fear-in-backrooms-and-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/williamjcobb.com\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/07\/15\/fear-in-backrooms-and-obsession\/","title":{"rendered":"Techno-Fear in “Backrooms” and “Obsession”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So I\u2019ve heard the buzz about the new film Backrooms<\/em> for a while, along with Obsession<\/em>, the two breakout hits of the summer movie crop. I studiously avoided reading much about it, including reviews, so as not to be corrupted by other opinions. Now that I\u2019ve seen it I do recommend that approach, as surprises are part of the fun. Or more particularly: The Mystery. In Backrooms<\/em> the filmmakers do a good job of dropping hints and clues about what\u2019s going on, without fully explaining it. If you\u2019re a fan of psycho\/surreal horror, you\u2019ll love it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ll do my best not to give much away. My perception of the movie, from the online buzz, was that it was this year\u2019s Blair Witch Project<\/em> (1999). Wrong. (Blair Witch <\/em>had its makeshift charms, anonymous, inexperienced actors and limited plot: I remember seeing it at the theater and wondering, when it ended, \u201cIs that it?\u201d) No, Backrooms<\/em> is professional and polished, despite its director being only twenty years old (and the movie\u2019s \u201cfound footage\u201d origins from a YouTube video). One thing I quickly discovered: It has knockout performances from the two main A-list actors: Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark, the man who sets the plot in motion, and Renate Reinsve as Mary, who acts as something of a narrator and psycho-spiritual guide. (She was up for Best Actress in last year\u2019s Sentimental Value<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best summer hits capture the nation\u2019s zeitgeist, so in this way maybe\u00a0Backrooms<\/em>\u00a0is this summer\u2019s\u00a0Jaws<\/em> (1975), or better yet,\u00a0Alien<\/em>\u00a0(1979). It\u2019s a snapshot of what we fear: In this case, technology run amok. I read it as a metaphor for A.I., or A.S.I. (Artificial Superintelligence), although A.I. is never mentioned in any way. Various A.I. researchers and pundits have noted that even its creators don’t know exactly how A.I. works, how to “learns” and “grows,” exactly. Some of argued that is cause for great alarm\u2014the folly of creating a super-powerful technology that we don’t understand and can’t necessarily control completely. Backrooms, however, is no jeremiad. In a nutshell, it\u2019s freaky. Great visuals of empty rooms and insular creepiness. Supposedly it\u2019s a play on \u201climinal spaces\u201d and there is a not-exactly-here element to its reality: It\u2019s something in between our world and the world to come. I\u2019ll classify it as Psycho-Surreal Horror.\u00a0Now to Obsession<\/em>, a horse of a different color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Obsession<\/em> is more conventional. Its tagline captures that: “Be careful who you wish for.” It’s essentially a Love Story or a Love-Gone-Wrong Story. I’ve heard it’s interpreted by some as a metaphor for (romantic\/sexual) “consent.” Maybe. But it doesn’t beat you over the head with that idea. Unlike Backrooms<\/em>, the danger is not a technological one, but it shares a fear of the unknown product we can purchase that will change our lives in ways we don’t anticipate or understand. Michael Johnston plays Bear, the lovestruck lead, who pines for his “friend” Nikki (played by Inde Navarrette). Despite his bruin’s name, Bear is a nebbishy guy who can’t confess his feelings or pretty much act in his best interests . . . without some supernatural or divine intervention. Which goes terribly wrong. It’s another version of the classic Monkey’s Paw idea: Fulfilled wishes usually come with strings\u2014or thorns\u2014attached. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best summer hits capture the nation\u2019s zeitgeist, so in this way maybe\u00a0Backrooms\u00a0is this summer\u2019s\u00a0Jaws (1975), or better yet,\u00a0Alien\u00a0(1979). It\u2019s a snapshot of what we fear. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[505,506,230,231,20,360,379],"tags":[503,504],"class_list":["post-3232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-backrooms-film","category-obsession-film","category-a-i-apocalypse","category-a-s-i-artificial-super-intelligence","category-horror-films","category-horror-movies","category-scifi-movies","tag-backrooms-film","tag-obsession-film"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t