In recent years, the concept of the uncanny valley has become increasingly prevalent – and unsettling. With the rise of AI, the idea of something that closely resembles reality but isn’t quite right has evolved into a modern societal fear.

That’s where A24’s much-anticipated new film Backrooms comes in to take things deeper. What began as a creepypasta internet post depicting an endless, empty office space soon spiralled into a viral digital lore. Adapted for the big screen by Kane Parsons, A24’s youngest director to date, the US filmmaker is the natural choice to lead the adaptation as an expert in the Backrooms mythology, having created a series of viral short films that expanded the universe long before being trusted with the feature adaptation.

Finn Bennett is one of the stars of the film, caught in a maze of endless corridors accessed through the basement of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire – an out-of-town pirate-themed furniture store – alongside Ciwetel Ejiofor, Lukita Maxwell, and Renate Reinsve. Playing Bobby, a camera operator who films all of Cap’n Clark’s advertisements, and the boyfriend of Maxwell’s character, Kat, Bennett finds himself at the centre of the horror, slipping deeper into its liminal space architecture. Speaking about the experience, Bennett tells us about getting lost in the 30,000 sq ft labyrinth set, diving into the Backrooms‘ mythology, and even outlines his own Backrooms survival plan.

Alex James Taylor: What was your reaction to reading the script – what pulled you in?
Finn Bennett: I was looking for the monster in the script, as you would for a horror film, and the monster being more spatial [really appealed]. The thing that really pulled me in was found footage. It’s a bit reductive to call The Backroom horror – sometimes I find horror kind of corny – and I really like found footage as a medium for bypassing that. I think The Blair Witch Project is brilliant.

AJT: Before filming, were you familiar with the lore of the Backrooms? 
FB: I wasn’t familiar, but before I talked with Kane I did a big deep dive and watched all of his videos on YouTube, in order. I was impressed with how he did so much with so little. He taught himself how to use Blender – it’s all created, like VFX. I was impressed by the way he would slowly unfold a narrative.

AJT: This set was so impressive, and it was a real 30,000 sq ft labyrinth, how was it being in that? Did you ever get lost?
FB: Doing a studio shoot is always weird because, you spend so much time inside. You come out and a whole day’s gone past. It’s extra weird when everything just looks the same, and nothing looks quite right. There are weird corners and angles that don’t really make sense – the geometry of each room is kind of odd. It was a cool experience. It started to smell a bit weird though, the more time we spent in it.

AJT: Did it stay in your mind?
FB: I walked away thinking about every room or alleyway – I’d be like, “Oh, that’s very Backrooms.” Even after watching it at the premiere, I was looking at everything through the lens of Backrooms. It’s kinda trippy. Me and Lukita send each other pictures of spaces that we think are Backrooms-like.

“Me and Lukita send each other pictures of spaces that we think are Backrooms-like.”

AJT: As you said, horror in Backrooms is very psychological and atmospheric rather than relying on jump scares. As an actor, how does that change your performance?
FB: Because so much of the work that I did with Lukita is shot on a camcorder, it’s our DP dressed as me, so whenever I pan down to my legs, it’s him – we are wearing the same outfit.  It felt much more natural and you could bend the script slightly. When we did ADR for it, there were lots of pauses and ad-libbing – I really liked that, it gave us space to flesh things out and run with ideas.

AJT: Were you encouraged to run with that due to Kane’s style?
FB: He definitely gave us space to run with it. Kane obviously knows Backrooms as a concept like the back of his hand – better than anybody else. Any question you had, he could answer. I think maybe because of the nature of it being on camcorder, certain things from the immediate script didn’t quite translate when shooting. So there were spaces where we were allowed to rehearse and get an idea – it never felt rushed. It was a really amazing positive experience. Everybody was very happy, and I remember just being like, “This is just getting better and better.” 

AJT: If you accidentally stepped into the Backrooms yourself, what’s your survival plan?
FB: I think this about all horror films, if I was in this situation, what would I do? I’d give in. I’d give in so easily. I don’t wanna fight. [laughs]

AJT: Do any spaces come to mind that you find Backrooms-creepy?
FB: Have you ever been to the toilet at the Barbican? It’s really cool, but it is weird. When you go to wash your hands you have to press a button with your foot, and I’m always like, “How the hell do I wash my hands?” It’s cool, but, like, it is kind of creepy.

Backrooms is out now.