Backrooms

So I haven't watched any of director Kane Parsons' YouTube videos which, as I have read, led to the making of this film, his first feature-length movie. I went in cold except for the trailer. I recommend doing the same if possible. What's it all about? It follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the owner and operator of a discount furniture store in a warehouse area, circa 1990 - Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire. Clark performs cheesy TV commercials dressed as a pirate with a wooden leg. Clark is in therapy after the demise of his last relationship. His store is sad with ugly and outdated pieces that scream grandpa's couch. And no customers. The store also seems to have some serious electrical issues. Clark discovers a secret passage to another part of his store that looks like '70s or '80s office space. It's like Clark entered The Twilight Zone if it were a Guggenheim Museum art installation. Clark's therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) also has her own messed-up childhood backstory, which plays a role when she enters the backrooms in search of the missing Clark. Backrooms is like if you took Matthew Barney's Cremaster 3 and gave it characters and a plot. Or if you took Synecdoche New York and turned it into The Maze Runner. It's kind of like the 1997 Canadian film, Cube if the world was turned to a yellow-beige and you added bad furniture. If all of these film references are too obscure, no worries, you can still go get happily lost in Backrooms. It's strange, like doing mushrooms in your friend's basement that hasn't been updated since the early '90s - you may have a bit of a panic attack trying to find your way out. Catch this conundrum in a dark theatre room or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available.  

I Love Boosters

This is Boots Riley's second directorial feature. His first was Sorry to Bother You which made my top 22 films of 2018 on my very first blog entry here on the Marquee. Had I started doing this earlier, I would have written a full entry about it. That film is about a black man working in a call center. It was bold, colourful, satirical, irreverent, pissed-off, arty, original, intelligent, and entertaining. Riley went on to make a TV series, I'm a Virgo, which I have not seen (but now I intend to). I Love Boosters is a bananas ride and all the adjectives I gave to his first film apply to his second. I loved it and thought it was a mess at the same time - like some of the ludicrous fashion designs that are the subject of this film. What's it all about? A gang of women are stealing and reselling high-end clothes from Metro Designers, a fashion empire run by Christie Smith (Demi Moore). Each store has its own primary colour - all the clothes in one location are yellow, for example. It's a gag and it's a hoot. Although it is a mockery of the fashion world, the designs remain outrageous and fun - The Hunger Games of primary colours. Then the film goes into the realm of science fiction with a teleportation device - a Chinese worker has teleported from China, where all the clothes are made. Her plan is to steal the clothes back as ransom to get workers some rights. She teams up with the boosters and all hell breaks loose. It becomes unhinged. A slapstick, Three Stooges, car-chase, roller-coaster of action. It's kind of like Everything Everywhere All at Once but add in a demon (LaKeith Stanfield - who is also the lead in Sorry to Bother You) who sucks women's souls out of their bodies through their coochies. Yeah, it's pretty wild and it's not for everyone. That said, it has to be one of the most interesting films of 2026 and I feel like I need to watch it again. Anxiety in this film is literally depicted as a giant ball of ATMs, computers, advertising, bills, phones, clothes, food, etc. rolling and roaming the streets of the city like an Indiana Jones boulder. It's brilliant. Go find something to wear and head to the cinema to catch this original film (not a cheap knock-off). Or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available.  

Silent Friend

If Sound of Falling was your cup of tea, then I have another one for you. If you don't know what I'm speaking about, not to worry, I'll explain. What we have here is another long (2.5 hours), beautiful, German art film which is slow and spans three different time periods, with three different stories all revolving around scientists and their relationships to plants. I know, it might sound boring as all hell, but trust me, it's great. Hungarian filmmaker, Ildikó Enyedi, has made a complex and gorgeous film. If you are willing to give some time and patience to this film, like watering and taking care of a plant, you will be rewarded with a bouquet of emotions. The first story, if we take them chronologically, takes place in 1908 with Grete (Luna Wedler) who is studying botany. This part of the film is shot in black and white. Breaking into a scientific men's world in 1908 is as unpleasant as poison ivy (if we continue with the plant metaphors). Grete takes up the new art of photography as a way to make ends meet - her pictures are stunning. The second story take place in 1972 and it looks like Enyedi did her best to make it look as though the film stock was from this time period. If you cried when Tom Hanks lost Wilson, his volleyball in Cast Away, well this film will give you anxiety over a geranium. Someone could argue that there is too much anthropomorphizing going on here - I don't care, I loved it anyway. The last story takes place in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Brain scientist Tony (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) is stuck by himself on a large university campus when he turns his research towards a tree and discovers an unlikely friendship as a result. The film explores our relationship with plants but also the relationships we have with each other, and how we treat one another. There is a meditative quality to the film, spiritual pantheism, an interconnectivity of all living things. You will come out feeling like you just walked through a lovely afternoon at the botanical gardens. So go grab your watering can, block out the sunshine, and go plant yourself in the dark theatre of the Mayfair, or the Bytowne, or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available.