So where do I start? For something that is only 16 minutes long, it sure packs in a lot!
If you’re looking for an extended or directors cut of the movie, then you might be disappointed. On the other hand if you are a fan of the Backrooms webseries, you’ll be in for a treat! It takes some of formats used in the series and combines them in one episode.
What is it?
As hinted at in the first promotional video for Everything Must Go, this feature focuses on Async. It is a prequel to the found footage sequence we see at the beginning of the movie, with Naren Warne and the Async research team exploring a new area of The Complex – for those unfamilliar with Kane’s webseries, “The Complex” is the name that Async uses for the Backrooms.
The feature takes the form of an Async research report on a new area that is being explored in The Complex. It combines POV and research footage. There are also some slides of photographic stills included, which is something we hadn’t seen in the webseries episodes.
Exploration
The first part of the feature is an exploration sequence. Initially we see the team walk though areas that don’t appear to be from the movie. Some of the photographic slides are included here to highlight some of the features the team sees. They soon end up in the open circular area that is familiar from the movie as where the Async outpost has been set up. The team discusses setting up the outpost before continuing to explore further. This is when they come across three signs that have been remembered from Cap’n Clark’s. Two signs have clipped into the floor to varying degrees. The team mention returning to base which we’d assume is The Threshold (but it’s not really clear).
As someone who really loves the exploration side of the Backrooms, I really enjoyed this part. I love seeing the new rooms that Kane creates, even if they are just a simple hallway. There’s some really cool things to be seen, one that sticks out is a very low archway. Another is a 3 handled door (which also brings a comparison to the small 3 handled door in the movie).
My one criticism of this part however was that the voices came off as difficult to understand as they were (realistically) muffled with the team being in hazmat suits. On my first watch, I didn’t pick up on much of the opening dialogue at all. However on my second watch I could understand more, but it still came across as muffled. I did find that once the team entered the open circular area, they were easier to understand.
Investigation
The second part revolves around a study of the clipped signs. For those who are familiar with the webseries, think along the lines of the episode “Lighting and Tile Survey”. The team returns to the area but have a new lead investigator with them this time (this person – they did give their name but I just cant recall it – also speaks a lot on this part). They examine the signs using varying methods. One thing they also notice is that they are exact copies – right down to the marks and blemishes that aren’t a result of printing errors. They end up actually cutting into the signs to take a sample and discover that they are screen printed. They then cut them from their clip leaving part of the sign inside the floor. This part I found really cool because we really haven’t seen what an object looks like when it’s separated mid-clip. The team goes onto say that they couldn’t remove the clipped part from the floor with the tools they had – they’d cut through the carpet and found that it was encased in the concrete floor that was underneath.
Based on triangulation of the position of the signs, one of the researchers determines that another sign could be beyond the wall. So they actually remove a panel of the wall. When I saw this I was like … whoa! Because in all of the episodes, we have never seen Async actually remove a wall panel – which seems like a really simple thing that they would have tried. There is actually a sign inside the wall cavity. The wall cavity is quite wide and a person can fit inside between the walls (much like we see Clark in between walls in the movie). However one of them spots something that looks like a hand clipping into the wall so they remove the wall panel on the other side to investigate further.
I actually loved Lighting and Tile survey because it told us more about the lights inside The Complex. And here too we find out not only about the signs, but also about the how they are clipped into the floor. I have to commend Kane for his writing here as he really knows how to present these facts and connect them back to real world objects.
Some not into these kinds of break-downs might find this part drags out a little though as it did seem to take up a fair amount of time even though I found it interesting.
Discovery
On the other side of the wall cavity the team discovers that said hand belongs to a mannequin and not a human – and in fact the mannequin is the pirate mannequin with the ships wheel from Cap’n Clark’s but without the pirate uniform.
In fact the whole area looks like Cap’n Clarks but isn’t. It has the characteristics of Cap’n Clarks – tiled floors and carpeted areas, the large poles, and blue and white walls. And it is actually more Backrooms than furniture store – corridors, rooms and other areas that seem to go in every direction. There are more “Everything Must Go” signs hanging from the ceiling. This place looks huge although we only see a small section of it. Most of it is in darkness with the team needing to use their flashlights much of the time. The only furniture appears to be lawn furniture which appears sparsely in places. And occasionally there is something like a ladder, boxes, etc. And some more mannequins, this time clipped into the floor like those in the Christmas room.
This part of the feature actually had me on the edge of my seat staring intently at the screen the entire time. The atmosphere and darkness of this place reminds me of the area where Peter Tench is found in Damage Control.
The team starts to hear something and come across a TV in the middle of an otherwise empty room. It is playing random clips (the only one I could make out appeared to be a kitchen bench) alternating with the Chinese text that translates to “No Signal” on a blue background. The movement between the segments is very quick.
While they are examining the TV, they begin to hear banging noises that get louder. We never end up seeing what this something is but on my second watch it does appear like it likely to be Pirate Clark as it’s appears to be tall even though we only see it in shadow. Naren appears to run but then the camera cuts out – leaving it unknown if the others escaped or not.
This is what Kane’s Backrooms are all about – the thing that is out there that we cannot see. It’s pure Backrooms horror and as much as I love the movie immensely, I really wish there were more scenes like this (it would have been great to see Mary with a scene like this instead of just having a chase scene). There’s a reason why Kane’s YouTube series is so great and this feature had exactly the feel of some of these episodes.
Theory
My theory is that this area was actually separate from the rest of The Complex and could not be accessed from it. It definitely is misremembering Cap’n Clark’s but it also leaves more questions such as why the null zone in the basement didn’t lead there instead.
When the research team removed the walls they opened up a way into that area – and vice-versa. Inside this area was a single Lifeform – Pirate Clark. With the wall opening he can now leave the confines of this area he inhabits and can go into the main area. Where he of course goes on to kill Naren at the start of the movie.
On the surface it looks like Naren just escapes and the others don’t / escape in a different direction, but it also seems a little too simple for an ending of something made by Kane so I can’t help but think there is more to it.
Two things seem to show that things are more advanced at the start of the movie to how they are in EMG – the outpost seems to be much more established (remember they say they only have limited equipment when investigating the signs and also they don’t have the large boxes and the like that are in the movie). And also we see more of the things from Cap’n Clark’s clipped into the Complex (however that could just be because the team hasn’t come across them yet in EMG). On my first watch, I initially thought it could have been an another time travel incident (like with Peter Tench) but taking a photo of the screen the second time, the date on the footage is dated June 18, 1990 which is only a day before the footage at the start of the movie.
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