Visiting the Complex

For one fan, The Backrooms was all too real…

Recently a member of Kane Parsons’ Official Discord server had the rare opportunity to visit the set in Vancouver where The Backrooms movie is currently being filmed. Mari, as they are known as online shared a little bit of information about what they saw (although it is a certainty that there was a lot more that they weren’t allowed to say too as is always the case with these things).

Before we get into the information we’d like to give a special thanks to Backrooms Movie Updates (@kanehypeguy) on X/Twitter for not only letting us repost this information, but also for compiling the information from the Discord. And of course to Mari for providing just a little insight into what we will be looking forward to.

Remember when Kane posted a photo of a possible set photo (we say possible because it was never confirmed, but it’s very likely) – a mostly white liminal space? Our instant reaction to it was that it was “so fucking beautiful”.

So when Mari was asked about the set — and although they could not give any details — they too described the set as being “beautiful”. Was their reaction also to a liminal space?

Actually they were able to see more than one set — imagine being able to see not one, but multiple Backrooms sets! When asked how big the sets were, they replied that it “varied from set to set”, and that they were “fun to walk around in”. They also thought that each set was flawless (an opinion coming from someone who is picky about details) and that there was attention to detail.

One thing that really makes us excited though is that they said the sets “eerily” were reminiscent of areas in the video series. Seeing that the YouTube videos are rendered “sets”, to see that feeling carried over to real sets sounds like something special.

All of the sets they saw also were “backrooms-ey” as opposed to being in a real world location, but they had no idea if Async were going to be in it or not.

If you look at the plot synopsis, we would guess that there would at least be a one real world location in the movie — the psychiatrist’s office. So if Mari only saw Backrooms-type sets, then it could have been that either those scenes were filmed on location or the sets were already dismantled if filming for them had been completed. So what’s to say that it would be similar if an Async location were in the movie. Only time will tell if an an actual Async location will be featured or not — or even if they will be featured at all.

Filming of a Scene

Mari was also lucky enough to witness an actual scene being filmed. And before you ask, no details about the scene were given! But they did get to see Kane in action … so to speak.

“He would call action semi audibly and once the scene was done, he would say cut, and then a second much audibly louder person would also say cut. There was a clapboard used by someone in general, don’t think it was Kane. But for someone who’s 20 and directing his first film, his direction in the scene I saw being shot was insane.”

I’m addition, they also got to read a small part of the script (it is unclear as to whether it was the same as the scene they saw being filmed). They described it as being “really weird (not in a bad way)” and that “what little they saw/read was amazing.”

More From the Set

While on-set, they got to see some actual practical effects being used. It appeared as though only a small amount of what they saw was a blue screen (guesstimate 20% – 30%). This of course would vary between scenes, but to hear Kane is directing these kinds of scenes is impressive and further goes to show the scope of his film-making abilities.

They also thought that the movie was being shot digitally. “But it still looked wonderful from what I saw,” Mari said when asked if they thought it was being shot digitally or on film.

Finally, they observed an unconfirmed actor being on-set — allegedly someone who was very tall. [The Backrooms Online: perhaps it was an actor dressed as Bacteria … okay maybe not!]

The Wallpaper(s)

As if everything we’ve mentioned so far wasn’t enough, Mari got to actually chat with Kane himself for a little bit, saying that he was very polite.

“(I) just briefly complimented the set, asked some small questions about how stuff was going, mentioned RegularlyBlue’s involvement in the chevron which he found funny that I knew about, and then he had to kinda get back to work.”

For those not familiar, RegularlyBlue is well known in the greater Backrooms community for his involvement in the search for the wallpaper from the original Backrooms photo and was the first person to get his hands on a roll of the now famous chevron wallpaper. He has a video the discovery on YouTube, that we’d recommend you check out if you want to find out more.

As we now know, the official teaser image incorporates the iconic chevron design. And it was RegularlyBlue who provided Kane with information about the wallpaper too. We are extremely hopeful that it will be in the movie too. After all, it’s a huge nod to the origin of The Backrooms and also something that can be appreciated by not just fans of Kane’s Backrooms universe, but also those who follow the other Backrooms lores too.

Mari was also given a bit of the wallpaper from the set to take with them. We are definitely just a little envious! The wallpaper is more of a white/cream and appears to have a motif on it that is more akin to the wallpapers we see in the YouTube series. In the video above, they mention that it seems to be made of some kind of canvas.

Absolutely!

One Discord user asked Mari if they saw anything that would be surprising to fans of the series. All they could say was “absolutely”, but they did go on to say that “(I) wouldn’t say what I saw gives an answer but it definitely revealed something”.

Of course this is only based on the one scene they saw, so whether we do find out more about what The Complex really is or any of the other secrets it holds, then we’ll all have to wait. Kane’s style is not to reveal everything so it’s also a good chance that although we’ll surely find out some things, we’ll still be asking a few questions at the end of the movie — and whether they be completely new questions or ones we currently have.

We’ll leave the last words to this article on a final quote from Mari — “I think you guys will like it once it comes out.”