Horror has long been a genre that rewards fresh ideas, but few filmmakers have arrived with a story quite like Kane Parsons’.
The writer and director was just 20 when he made Backrooms, the feature film adaptation of the viral internet phenomenon that first brought him attention four years earlier, as a teenager. Over the weekend, the ambitious project has become a box-office sensation, recording the fourth-biggest opening weekend ever for a horror film ($118 million worldwide) and cementing Parsons as one of cinema’s most remarkable young talents.
Produced by independent film powerhouse A24, Backrooms takes a deceptively ordinary setting and twists it into something deeply unsettling. Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) stars as Clark, a furniture store manager whose life has settled into an unsatisfying routine. When he discovers a mysterious portal hidden at the back of his store, he stumbles into a strange and seemingly endless realm that defies logic and explanation.
Concerned by his increasingly extraordinary claims, Clark’s therapist Dr Mary Kline, played by 2026 Oscar nominee Renate Reinsve, decides to investigate for herself. What begins as scepticism soon gives way to something far more disturbing as both characters find themselves confronting a reality that becomes harder and harder to comprehend.
Part of the film’s appeal lies in its ability to transform familiar spaces into sources of dread. The endless corridors, fluorescent lighting and seemingly identical rooms that define the Backrooms mythology create an atmosphere as unnerving as any traditional movie monster.
That sense of unease extended well beyond the screen. Reinsve has spoken about the effect the elaborate sets had on the cast, describing them as genuinely frightening.
“It was mind-blowing being in there,” she said. “The more time I spent in there, the more unhinged I felt.”
The comment speaks to what makes Backrooms so effective. Rather than relying solely on shocks, the film taps into a more psychological form of fear, one rooted in disorientation, isolation and the nagging sense that something is fundamentally wrong.
For Parsons, the film’s success represents an extraordinary leap from internet creator to major feature filmmaker. At an age when many aspiring directors are still studying the craft, he has delivered one of the year’s most talked-about films and is the youngest director in history to have a film top the US and global box office.
Whether you’re already familiar with the Backrooms mythology or encountering it for the first time, the film offers a reminder that some of the most frightening places are the ones that seem almost ordinary.
Backrooms was released nationwide in Australia and New Zealand on 28 May.
