Backrooms Lands 78% Rotten Tomatoes Score as A24 Eyes $40 Million Opening

5 articles · Updated · Forbes · May 27

Backrooms posted a 78% Rotten Tomatoes critic score from about three dozen reviews, giving A24’s horror release a solid but not top-tier reception.
A24 is still projecting a $40 million to $50 million opening weekend, helped by the film’s built-in audience from Kane Parsons’ YouTube series.
Parsons, 19, directed the adaptation of his own viral concept, whose original Backrooms video has 78 million views and more than 100 million across the series.
Among major 2026 horror releases, Backrooms trails titles such as Obsession at 95% and Send Help at 93%, placing it outside the year’s top five-reviewed entries.
That middling critical rank may matter less commercially because the film was made on a low budget, leaving it positioned to become a profitable horror hit even without breakout reviews.

As 'Backrooms' hits theaters, can it satisfy its massive online fanbase without losing the eerie magic of the original videos?

Is a teen YouTuber's viral horror film the new blueprint for Hollywood success, or just a lucky gamble for A24?

When viral internet myths become movies, who really owns the story and the potential for blockbuster profits?