News What to Watch What to Watch and Read This Weekend: Chase the Minamalist Backrooms With These Maximalist Genre Movies Plus: A sea shanty band with a secret and Mina the Hollower By Matthew Byrd | Published on May 29, 2026 Screenshot: A24 Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: A24 Hey all! Molly is out this week fighting dragons or some damn thing (I don’t keep track or bother to ask), so I’m stepping in to guide you through the weekend as best as possible. This weekend, we’ve got a horror movie you need to see, a few genre films that will help you scare away the liminal nightmares caused by that movie, and a video game from another time that may just be the best video game you’ll play this year. Still not convinced tonight’s going to be a good night? Then may I interest you in increasingly specific obsessions and the story of a sea shanty singing band with a dark secret? Ah, that’s the spirit. So don’t forget to call your reps, and let’s dive in. Nobody Can Be Told What Is In the Backrooms Do you know the horror of having to go back to school after hours to get that book out of your locker that you lost? What about the terror of having to work late in a retail store doing inventory after the employees and customers are gone? Can you relate to the dread of discovering that you have been living and working in the shadows of a seemingly infinite series of hallways and rooms seemingly disconnected from reality even as they expose something about your crumbling world? In its own way, Backrooms capitalizes on those all-too-familiar anxieties. The on-screen story of the new movie Backrooms (a man discovers his furniture store is connected to a seemingly infinite series of mysterious rooms) is really only half the story. The film’s behind-the-scenes origins are arguably just as compelling. Based on a creepypasta post about liminal spaces that you can accidentally “noclip” into, the Backrooms concept was eventually turned into a successful series of YouTube videos by Kane Parsons. Now, at only 20 years old, Parsons is the latest online content creator to take their second screen vision to the big screen. And by all accounts, the full-length Backrooms movie is every bit as ominous, terrifying, and visually inspired as its source material. The minimalist, liminal nature of the Backrooms idea has long spoken to those who harbored a silent fear of the sterile spaces that have seemingly become more prolific in the age of private equity, disappearing design identities, and dying institutions. It’s also yet another recent example of a burgeoning modern golden age of horror led by creators from non-traditional origins. See it in a room with fluorescent lighting if you can. Backrooms is now playing in theaters. Maximalist Genre Movies For Maximum Enjoyment If the Severance-esque minimalist hallways of Backrooms get you craving a little color, a few explosions, and a slice of gonzo insanity, then here are a few maximalist genre films to add to your watchlist: Speed Racer – Perhaps the Wachowskis’ greatest film, Speed Racer is certainly one of the greatest assaults on the senses ever crafted by human hands. Deliriously colorful and over-the-top in every technical and spiritual way, it’s the movie lesser minds are trying to make when they claim to bring a classic cartoon to life. House (1977) – Inspired by the ideas and fears of director Nobuhiko Obayashi’s young daughter, House (Hausu) is quite possibly the strangest and most wonderful horror movie ever made. Every frame of this cult classic masterpiece is designed to make you utter “What the hell?” even as you gradually accept that nothing approaching traditional explanations will ever grace your weary conscience. Also one of the better movies where a girl is eaten by a piano. Mandy – Many modern directors are trying to weaponize the generational weirdness of Nicolas Cage. Few have ever done it half as well as Panos Cosmatos in Mandy. Imagine if every heavy metal album cover merged into a single entity, came to life, and burst into our reality while riding a violent spectrum of colors as they are heralded by the sound of every noise playing at once. That’s roughly what it’s like to watch this revenge story that somehow finds new places to go when you think it couldn’t possibly go new places. Phantom of the Paradise – There are, in this writer’s opinion, too few horror musicals. Then again, when you consider that director Brian De Palma arguably perfected the concept in 1974, the hesitation to follow in those footsteps becomes that much more understandable. This story of a modern(ish) day phantom whose masterpiece is stolen by a slimy record producer is a gift for those of us who live in the Venn diagram of absurdity between musicals and horror. Escape From The 21st Century – One of the most underrated sci-fi films in recent memory, Escape from the 21st Century is also one of the most unabashedly maximalist films you’ll ever need to brace yourself for. It tells the story of three young men who mysteriously gain the power to travel through time simply by sneezing, and use (often unwillingly) that ability to create colorful chaos through time and space. Imagine if Everything Everywhere All at Once consumed all the acid that has ever and will ever be produced. Master and Commander: A Long Read About a Sea Shanty Band With a Secret Author Peter Ward’s longread story Master and Commander is not technically a genre tale. It is, however, the kind of epic bit of online journalism that reminds you the internet isn’t always a terrible place and occasionally lends a voice to stories that would otherwise go untold despite being truly remarkable. It’s the story of a traveling sea shanty band that captures the hearts and minds of the residents of a small Welsh town where they become something of a sensation. Slowly, though, the enamored residents begin to realize that there’s something about the band’s manager that doesn’t seem quite right. To say any more would be a crime, but it’s a must-read for fans of excellent writing and small-town mysteries. Mina the Hollower Is A Modern Game Boy Color Masterpiece In 2014, developer Yacht Club Games released Shovel Knight: a throwback to 8-bit action-adventure video games that has gone on to join many shortlists of the greatest such games ever made. While Yacht Club has expanded Shovel Knight in the years since then (and released a few spin-offs of the title), fans have patiently waited for their proper follow-up to the iconic retro experience. Well, Mina the Hollower is finally here, and it’s somehow even better than the years of hype could have prepared us for. Visually and mechanically, Mina the Hollower is a tribute to Game Boy Color games like The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. Functionally, it’s actually a very Zelda-like title with a little Dark Souls and Castlevania thrown in for flavor. But much like Shovel Knight, Mina the Hollower is so much more than a bit of retro aesthetics flattery. It’s a deep, emotionally resonant, and sometimes even surprisingly scary adventure game that examines the evolution of that very concept even as it inches the genre forward. It may very well be the best game of 2026, and it will almost certainly become quite a few people’s next obsession. Engage in Hypedrive Overfixation Finally, if you’re looking for something lovely to interrupt the occasional bit of inevitable doomscrolling this weekend, may I recommend our own Hyperdrive Overfixation series? As curated by our own social media manager, Hyperdrive Overfixation offers people a platform to sound off on the incredibly specific subjects that just mean the world to them. Examples so far include the argument that Star Wars would have benefited from a throuple storyline, why you should consider Red Dead Redemption 2 to be a horse girl masterpiece, and a deep dive into the anatomy of mermen. Give them a watch when you get the chance. They’re some of the best things we do here.[end-mark] The post What to Watch and Read This Weekend: Chase the Minamalist <i>Backrooms</i> With These Maximalist Genre Movies appeared first on Reactor.