Backrooms: Horror and Philosophy of Liminal Space

The article explores the cultural and philosophical significance of the 'backrooms' phenomenon, linking it to the release of Kane Parsons' film 'Backrooms' produced by A24, and the Spanish publication of Valentina Tanni's 'Estéticas liminales' by Caja Negra (2026). Originating from a 4chan thread (2011-2019), the backroom image depicts an empty, beige-carpeted, yellow-walled interior with fluorescent lights and no windows or furniture, evoking a sense of unease. The concept is tied to liminal spaces—transitional, suspended zones—and is analyzed through references to Mark Fisher's 'the eerie', Marc Augé's 'non-lieux', and Herbert Marcuse's 'One-Dimensional Man'. The article connects backrooms to digital culture phenomena like vaporwave, ASMR, weirdcore, and reality shifting, and draws parallels to works such as 'Severance', 'Blue Velvet', 'The Truman Show', and 'The Coffee Table'. The film benefits from a score by Jeremy Coxx, reminiscent of Leyland Kirby's The Caretaker, and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, and Mark Duplass. The backroom is presented as a post-industrial mythology, a space of emotional emptiness and infrastructural horror, reflecting contemporary political disorientation and the normalization of bad taste.