Back Rooms is a horror movie about some of the creepiest places imaginable,

the nondescript beige carpeted rooms that populate countless office spaces and discount furniture warehouses.

If you've ever worked in a rundown office park or shopped for a cheap mattress, the vibe will be instantly familiar.

Dinge, claustrophobic, maybe with cheerful music piped through tinny speakers and always with the unsettling flickering hum of fluorescent lights.

That setting forms the central concept of back rooms, which doesn't have a plot so much as a deeply unnerving sense of place.

It's a surreal and unsettling bit of horror based on a popular YouTube series.

I'm Stephen Thompson.

Today we are talking about back rooms on pop culture happy hour from NPR.

Joining me today is Jordan Cruciola.

She's a writer and producer and the host of the podcast Feeling Scene on Maximum Fun.

Hey, Jordan.

Hello, thank you so much for having me back.

It is a pleasure.

Also with us is freelance music and culture journalist Rihanna Cruz.

Hey, Rihanna.

Hey, Steven. Happy to be here.

Great to have you. So in back rooms, Chuitel Egyaphor plays the manager of a pirate-themed

discount furniture store called Capon Clark's Ottoman Empire. As he discusses with his therapist,

played by Renata Rinesva, his life is falling apart. He's getting a

divorce, he drinks too much, and he's carrying around the massive weight of ambient stress.

And to make matters worse, while living in the store, he discovers a secret labyrinth of

back rooms. Each has a strange and unsettling design, tiny doors with three knobs, narrow passageways,

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