"Behind the Scenes of Reality": Really bad... or not?

      Those who have watched or plan to watch are surely aware that the story of the film "Behind the Reality" originates from, essentially, internet tales and creepypastas. Relatively fresh, by the way — born in 2019. Someone posted a photo of an ordinary office corridor with yellow wallpaper, dim lights, and a complete lack of decor elements under the thread "disturbing and scary images." For many of us, such a space is a daily routine. And that’s the essence of it.

      What is this "room"

      Current trends, especially among the youth, reflect a desire for freedom, a rejection of the usual plankton existence, and a choice of one's "self" in contrast to the average, dreary system. In short, a shabby office is the lifestyle we have been frightened of since childhood. Around this photo, users began to unfold an entire universe with different levels and meanings. A fandom started to form.

      "Behind the Reality," among other things, is considered the first representative of liminal spaces, a trend that began to gain popularity a couple of years ago, first in the gaming industry and then in cinema (the film "Exit 8," 18+ 2025 — one example).

      Since it has become impossible to scare viewers with things like nuns in bloody sarafans or children with psychopathic smiles — "Behind the Reality" can be called an example of internet folklore in the genre of modern horror. Here, it is the very fact of hopelessness and infinity that is frightening. That is, there is no option for victory. At all. None whatsoever.

      In horror films of past decades, even if not explicitly, there is still a concept of good and evil. In slashers (films demonstrating sophisticated forms of violence), the girl always survives, in thrillers — the main character. There are rules and concepts. Now, however, this does not suit the viewer (I am doing my best to avoid that creepy word "zoomers"). It simply does not meet the "modern demand," which is formed from an endless news feed and reels. So if we talk about the film "Behind the Reality" from the perspective of the current trends — yes, super, cool, you should watch it. But if you are someone unaccustomed and unprepared, you watch it like this:...

      And what is this all about?

      Returning to that night when, after watching, I immediately wanted to give a harsh and blunt verdict: the film is trash.

      It’s hard to talk about the script for long. In the opening scene, we are introduced to "someone" who runs through incomprehensible office corridors with signs and ship steering wheels that have sunk into the textures. A monster chases him, and the man asks for help, which ultimately ends badly. Next, the main character is Clark, an insecure furniture store manager who dreamed of becoming an architect. He attends sessions with a psychologist named Mary, who, in turn, had a difficult childhood with a crazy mother who met her old age in a "house of grief."

      One night, while Clark is spending the night in the store, he stumbles upon a passage to that very liminal space behind the wall. And then the main character completely dedicates himself to studying the anomalous territory, sharing this with his psychotherapist.

      In general, even from the description, it is clear that during the narrative, we were given so many Chekhov's guns that they could hang on a couple of three-meter walls. And so, for almost 2 hours, you sit in this oppressive yellowish space with this almost psychedelic trash and wait for one of them to fire. When will there be a logical turn in this chaos? By the end, you are already betting on the ending — "Just wait, they will tell us that this is a scientific experiment or just Clark's 'schizophrenia'! Just a little more patience!" — but all hopes were buried...

      In nervous attempts to cling to my favorite dogma "everything must have meaning!", I began to think that this was an attempt to convey the confusion of each person's inner world, because in the second part of the film (spoiler!) we switch to Mary, who understands nothing... In short, all attempts were not convincing enough.

      Even right after watching, I wanted to hit the friend who recommended this "blue," but something inside me didn't want to give up so easily. I needed to digest and understand.

      As they say, the morning is wiser than the evening, so yes, the next day I began to investigate. What this shallow exploration gave me, you read above — the film is good precisely for its audience. For those very zu... ahem... zoom... for the youth, in short. For those who expect the usual tropes, logic, and meaning from a horror film, I do not recommend going. Not because the film won't scare or because it is bad. It will simply be hard to understand.