Between the generic shadowy cinematography and a gothic score that manages to telegraph even the film's jump-scares, there's no tangible tension by which to build an effective climax.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The film is the cinematic equivalent of watching a Rubik's Cube noisily solve itself for 90 minutes.
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
Lacking the stylistic finesse that might have compensated for its schematic narrative deficiencies, Backtrack lives up to its title all too well.
RogerEbert.com by Godfrey Cheshire
Petroni, in any case, is a skilled storyteller with a strong visual sense.
“I see dead people,” Adrien Brody all but exclaims in Backtrack, a movie that tries to make a choo-choo out of “The Sixth Sense” but immediately goes off the rails.
The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger
The film is part psychological thriller, part horror movie, and the horror elements deliver some solid frights. Mr. Brody isn’t asked to stretch much, but he does his usual thing adroitly.
Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray
While everyone involved with Backtrack is a polished pro, the movie's tastefulness gets in the way of the suspense.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
It’s a bit derivative, with borrowings from a handful of other films, but there are some nasty moments.
Neill is quietly compelling, as always. Brody underplays Pete, emphasizing his suffering, his victimhood, his guilt. It’s a performance mostly of reactions, and the aforementioned wayward accent.
New York Daily News by Stephen Whitty
Backtrack eventually moves beyond its shamelessly borrowed set-up to create a few chills of its own.