Until my beloved housekeeper comes to tidy my abode once a month, my inner sanctum sometimes resembles the labyrinth of secret bonus rooms filled with misplaced furniture and piles of clothes the protagonist played by Chewitel Ejiofor discovers in the back of his ottoman superstore. I suppose the devilish discount dreamscape depicted on screen is what is prompting many to call a surprise sleeper hit film assured and atmospheric. Backrooms (C-) is based on a YouTube series by Kane Parsons, who directs and helps compose for the big-screen event. It’s a mystery box set in a big box but doesn’t really know what aisle and shelf it’s working with to deploy its talented cast including Renate Reinsve and Mark Duplass. Along with Ejiofor, the ensemble feels like arbitrary fixtures. All in all, it’s more world-building than storytelling as room after surreal room reveal. The movie is most effective when mining tortured minds, and even then doesn’t fully inventory. The best parts of the movie evoke an absurdity familiar to fans of Salvador Dalí or David Lynch, but the most unsettling passages don’t add up to much. I love that this movie exists and is attracting young people to the cinemas in droves, but its occasional triumphs of visual imagination aren’t generally matched by its bargain basement shortcomings.