There’s a sinister clue Clark was in the Backrooms for WAY longer than we thought

*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Backrooms*

Backrooms doesn’t explicitly state how much time Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) spends in the liminal dimension, but there’s a sinister detail you may have missed that suggests his ordeal lasted far longer than it appears.

Kane Parsons’ A24 masterpiece builds on the horror sci-fi world he created, with Async’s scientific research on the Backrooms running alongside the story of Clark, a failed architect who discovers a doorway to the space in the basement of his workplace.

Clark starts mapping out the Backrooms before roping in his assistant manager Kat (Lukita Maxwell) and her boyfriend Bobby (Finn Bennett), but their expedition goes awry. Later, Clark’s therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) visits his furniture store to find out what happened to him, only to discover the doorway. 

As she ventures in, Clark knocks her out and she wakes up to find herself tied to a chair in a space resembling a dining room. Clark explains what he’s discovered about the Backrooms, making it clear that he’s been in there for quite some time. 

Not only has he worked out a lot about the human-like lifeforms (including that you can eat them *shudders*), but he’s also lost his mind – from the amount of time he’s been in there, the horrors of the liminal space, the isolation, and his own thoughts consuming him. 

But since neither the film nor its characters reveal how long Clark has been in there for, it’s caused some confusion among fans. As one asked on Reddit, “Does anybody have a timeframe for how long he was alone in there for? 

“I just don’t know… how he got so much info on those entities and formed some kind of relationship with his doppelganger entity for him to even come to trust it in a way.”

Did anyone else notice Clark’s rotting teeth?

We don’t have an exact figure, but there’s a major clue during this scene: Clark’s rotting teeth. 

When he first heads into the Backrooms, his pearly whites are looking perfectly healthy. But in the dining room scene, as he’s explaining the lifeforms to Mary, he cracks a smile when he explains, “They simply exist, like furniture.”

His teeth show visible signs of decay, with yellow and brown cracks in them. Sure, he wouldn’t have been drinking regular water or brushing his teeth while down there, but even so, it suggests he’s experienced far more than a few days inside the Backrooms.

If the detail is intentional, it hints he may have spent months – possibly far longer – inside the Backrooms. According to various sources, decay can take from six months to five years to show. 

One fan noticed this detail too, writing on Reddit, “I think he was in there for a pretty long time. There’s a scene at the dinner table where he smiles and there’s a clear focus on his front teeth, which are rotting.

“I don’t know how long it takes for your teeth to start rotting without brushing them but it’s certainly not a few days.”

Time in the Backrooms may pass differently to the real world

That being said, there may be other factors here too such as the atmosphere and bacteria within the Backrooms that speeds the process, not to mention how time passes compared to the real world. 

As another fan countered, “I think the atmosphere in The Complex has negative long term effects on humans, hence why ASync workers wear the suits, so maybe Clark’s body is breaking down physically as well as mentally by the time Mary finds him.”

“It’s been established before that the Backrooms f**ks with time. Notice how he was seemingly only in the Backrooms for a night before he told Mary about it and even showed a detailed map,” added a third.  

“It’s possible that he could’ve spent several months or even years in the Backrooms while the flow of time outside was only a few days or even a week.”

There is another clue some time has passed: The fact that when Mary goes to find Clark, there’s a pile of letters at the store. 

“Also, it was long enough for Mary to go out of her way to check on him,” wrote another fan. “I’d guess a few months.”

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Featured images credit: A24