Does Mary Survive in the Film 'Backrooms'? Here’s What Happens to Her

The A24 film Backrooms, created by Kane Parsons, follows the story of Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a furniture store owner who discovers a portal within his store, Cap'n Clark's, that contains an endless maze made up of countless rooms.

As his curiosity grows, he brings Bobby along with him to film the maze and obtain proof that it actually exists. Sadly, though, Bobby is killed by some type of being lurking inside the realm.

Clark eventually gets trapped inside, and when his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve), whom he's previously told about the Backrooms, realizes he's missing, she goes looking for him. Initially hesitant to believe his story, she eventually discovers the Backrooms within his store for herself, and gets trapped inside too. So, what happens to Mary in the end? Keep scrolling to find out.

After Mary discovers that the portal Clark has been going on and on about actually exists within his furniture store, she goes inside with the hopes of finding him. There, she's then taken captive by Clark and tied to a chair.

While he attempts to prove to Mary that he's come to terms with living in this other world and is comfortable with his decision, despite the distorted version of himself who dresses in a pirate costume living there alongside him, things quickly go south.

As Clark tries to convince Mary that the copy of himself in this surreal world is nothing to be afraid of, Mary calls him out for being deluded and unable to see things from other people's perspectives. In an effort to prove her wrong, Clark goes in for a hug with "Pirate Clark," as Parsons refers to him in his interview with Polygon. And that's when the creature attacks, biting Clark and killing him.

Thankfully, Mary is able to break free from the chair and run away, though Pirate Clark isn't far behind, trailing her through the various rooms.

Eventually, Mary appears to escape the surreal world and make it back into the real one, where she's then taken into custody by a team of researchers from Async Research Institute, the organization that has been surveilling the realm Clark has been visiting. Viewers then see her being interrogated by an employee named Phil (Mark Duplass).

Meanwhile, the agency also captures Pirate Clark, gases him, and holds him captive. It's also implied that Async isn't going to let Mary go that easily, as they have plenty of questions and, well, she’s seen a lot of things.

What’s not clear, however, is whether the version of Mary taken into Async's custody is actually the real Mary or a distorted copy. Basically, Async could be interrogating distorted versions of both Clark and Mary, or just Clark.

But Parsons isn’t willing to give an in-depth explanation of what happens to Mary or whether she survives. Instead, he’s leaving it up to viewers to draw their own conclusions and interpret it however they want.