Long-Awaited Horror Movie Inspired by Deep Internet Lore has Biggest Opening in A24 History

What started as a Creepypasta online quickly became an extremely popular web series started (at the time) by a 16-year-old and is now a record-breaking, worldwide sensation of a feature film. Kane Parsons began releasing videos inspired as "found footage" on YouTube in 2022 which quickly went viral. The following year, A24 reached a deal with Parsons to develop it into the feature film, Backrooms.

The origin of "The Backrooms" online dates back to some time between 2018 and 2019 when an image posted by an anonymous user on 4chan was added to a thread of "unsettling images." The description of the image was as follows:

"If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you"

Parsons had a vague memory of seeing the image prior to creating his web series, but wasn't aware of the community of people who were obsessed with the concept. As of May of 2026, his original video has over 80 million views.

The feature film adaptation, Backrooms, was released on May 29th, 2026. Initial projections anticipated the movie grossing between $40–50 million on its opening weekend. As of May 31st, 2026, Backroomsgrossed $81 million domestically and $118 million worldwide, becoming A24's biggest opening in the studio's history.

Backroomsfollows Clark, a former architect turned furniture store owner who is struggling with his failed marriage and alcoholism. While living out of his store, he discovers a glitch in the walls and his store's basement, leading to an endless, labyrinth-like dimension of filled with dull, yellow-wallpapered rooms and beings unlike anything he's ever seen. In exploring the rooms and trying to uncover their reason for existing, Clark becomes more and more unhinged.

Early reviews of the movie are favorable, with the Los Angeles Timespraising the performance of the cast and calling it overall "unsettling." Varietycommended Parsons directing and compared the film to the likes of Eraserhead and The Shining.

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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 11:19 AM.