The eerie ‘Backrooms’ is a doorway into a new kind of Hollywood spellbinder

by

From the moment he was born, Kane Parsons seemed destined for Hollywood. Now 20 years old – the same age as the very first YouTube videos – he’s grown up with direct access to an audience, allowing his creativity to flourish. His first film, “Backrooms,” signals the arrival of a fresh generation of filmmakers who were shaped by online feedback and are poised to breathe new life into the movie industry.

Growing up, Steven Spielberg showed his home movies to friends and neighbors. Similarly, a young filmmaker named Parsons shared his early short films online, carefully watching how people reacted. One particularly strange nine-minute film, featuring a creepy setting of old carpets, yellow walls, and tiled ceilings, unexpectedly went viral, reaching 78 million viewers. He quickly made more films in the series, and even before graduating high school, A24 offered him a major deal. Parsons spent his teenage years not just creating films – writing, directing, editing, and composing the music – but also figuring out exactly what audiences enjoy. It’s an incredible achievement, though he’s still too young to celebrate with champagne.

Considering the current horror landscape, “Backrooms” would be a noteworthy release even if it were just decent. However, it’s more than that – it’s genuinely artistic. Director Parsons, alongside screenwriter Will Soodik, revisited the unsettling maze to create a surprisingly profound story about grief, feeling stuck, and how the stories we tell ourselves can prevent us from truly growing emotionally.

Movies

For years, 20-year-old Parsons had been developing an idea, and he recently turned it into a reality by working with acclaimed actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, along with the production company A24.

The film “Backrooms” evokes the grainy, unsettling feel of an old VHS tape, tapping into a common nostalgia among younger generations for a time before smartphones – even if they didn’t experience it themselves. The story centers on Clark, a former architect now selling furniture, played with nuance by Chiwetel Ejiofor. He accidentally discovers a portal in his store’s basement, leading him not to a whimsical wonderland, but to a strangely unsettling and disorienting alternate reality – the ‘backrooms’.

He described the place as if built during a bizarre, chaotic dream. The hallways twisted and turned endlessly, lit by buzzing fluorescent lights. It was a mess: lamps and chairs were randomly piled up, and shoes were strangely stuck in the floor, as if sinking into sand. The whole scene felt like the aftermath of some unknown disaster. While Clark was stuck dealing with his own anger and acting childish above ground, down here, a sense of frustration felt strangely normal.

Should he be afraid? And if so, then what of?

Okay, so things start getting really weird for Clark pretty quickly. He hears noises, and then suddenly, his two work buddies, Bobby and Kat, show up where he is, along with his therapist, Dr. Kline. Poor Dr. Kline is dealing with her own stuff, constantly flashing back to her mother’s struggles with leaving the house. There’s also this guy in a lab coat, played by Mark Duplass, who seems connected to the online mystery surrounding this place, but honestly, he doesn’t really do much – it feels like they just put him in there to hint at a bigger, uncaring corporation. And trust me, you’ll be squinting at the screen a lot. The cinematography is intentionally grainy and low-fi, so it’s hard to make out what’s even happening, forcing you to really pay attention and rewatch scenes to figure things out.

It’s hard for someone in their early twenties to feel truly satisfied with life these days, and author Parsons seems to understand why. One idea is that this generation was just becoming teenagers when the pandemic suddenly shifted their lives to online learning and isolation. At the same time, they were listening to their parents worry about lasting societal changes. So, when these young adults look ahead, they don’t necessarily see the traditional path of a thriving career waiting for them.

Movies

For Subscribers

The 27 best movie theaters in Los Angeles

We’ve created a guide to 27 fantastic movie theaters in Los Angeles, including iconic spots like the TCL Chinese and New Beverly, popular chains like Alamo Drafthouse, and the best AMC location in Burbank.

Consider how buying a couch now means browsing a digital image – a virtual living room – instead of talking to a salesperson. You can even change the couch’s color with a simple touch. Lately, the internet often feels impersonal and lacking genuine connection. Keep that feeling in mind as you look at these images.

The power of “Backrooms” lies in its simplicity. Its minimalist story and vast, unsettling setting allow viewers to fill in the gaps with their own imaginations and feelings of disorientation – that familiar childhood sensation of being lost or feeling out of place. The creator subtly reveals details about the characters, Clark and Mary, bit by bit, guiding us through their story. This approach sparked personal memories for me – getting lost as a child on a family road trip, and more recently, the poignant experience of sorting through a sick friend’s belongings. “Backrooms” evokes that same feeling of quiet intimacy and lingering emotion.

One stunning visual effect shows the camera falling through Mary’s living room floor, revealing distorted copies of the same room. Each version is more broken and unreal than the last, eventually transforming into completely different, unsettling spaces reminiscent of the “backrooms.” This sequence brilliantly illustrates how our memories can be both factually incorrect and deeply emotionally resonant. Many of us, like the character Parsons, still grapple with past experiences, and surprisingly, even powerful leaders sometimes act as if they’re still stuck in childhood ways of thinking.

Calling “Backrooms” a horror movie doesn’t quite capture it. It’s more like a moving surrealist painting – imagine staring at a Salvador Dali landscape of distorted clocks until it feels deeply unsettling. Dali’s famous painting, “The Persistence of Memory,” was created during a tense time between wars, when everything looked normal, but a sense of unease was always present. Today’s kids may not know the historical context, but they still connect with Dali’s work because it taps into the feeling that the world isn’t always logical or predictable.

The unsettling feeling in “Backrooms” is what initially drew millions of viewers and led them to share the short film. Despite being tense and ending suddenly, I found the experience surprisingly uplifting. Kane Parsons is a remarkably talented filmmaker, and he’s leading a new wave of young creators who are bringing innovative perspectives to genres like action, comedy, and romance. He’s paving the way for others to follow in his footsteps and navigate the complexities of Hollywood.

Read More

2026-05-28 19:31