A24 Launches 110-Minute Backrooms Film as 20-Year-Old Kane Parsons Draws Praise for Inventive Horror
Updated
Updated · Deadline · May 27
A24 Launches 110-Minute Backrooms Film as 20-Year-Old Kane Parsons Draws Praise for Inventive Horror
6 articles · Updated · Deadline · May 27
A24 opens "Backrooms" this weekend with Chiwetel Ejiofor leading Kane Parsons’ first feature, an R-rated adaptation of the viral YouTube horror series he began at 17.
Reviewers praising the film point to its unsettling maze of yellow-lit rooms, strong sound and visual design, and Parsons’ expansion of internet lore into a feature they say works even for newcomers.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve and Mark Duplass anchor the story of a furniture-store owner who discovers a passage through his walls into an endless, increasingly dangerous labyrinth.
The release lands amid a wave of breakout online-to-horror success stories, following Mark Fischbach’s $50 million-grossing "Iron Lung" and Curry Barker’s $1 million-budget hit "Obsession".
Reception remains split: an earlier review the same day called the film’s liminal-horror concept intriguing but criticized its storytelling and character development as underbaked.
Will A24's 'Backrooms' gamble elevate its brand, or dilute its indie credibility by turning subtle dread into generic action?
With critics split, is 'Backrooms' the best creepypasta film yet or another beautifully shot, but hollow, horror adaptation?