Kane Parsons: The ‘Backrooms’ Movie Is Just the Beginning
Before Backrooms was a surprise box-office smash, opening to an estimated $81 million this weekend, it was a strange little YouTube phenomenon created by then-teenage filmmaker Kane Parsons. His original Backrooms (Found Footage) short exploded online, helping transform an obscure internet creepypasta into one of Gen Z’s defining horror myths.
What made Parsons’ Backrooms series so effective was how little it actually explained. The mythology is remarkably thin, giving viewers just enough to hold on to as they’re pulled deeper into an Alice in Wonderland-like liminal nightmare of endless yellow hallways, buzzing fluorescent lights, lo-fi graphics, and fleeting glimpses of something lurking in the dark. The series understands that mystery is often more frightening than answers.
In an interview before the film’s release, Parsons told Variety that he never viewed the feature as an adaptation of his shorts. Instead, he sees it as a continuation of the story he has already been telling online — a “foot in the door” that gives newcomers an entry point into the Backrooms mythology without requiring years of internet lore homework.
Now that millions of moviegoers have been initiated into the cult, Parsons is already thinking bigger. Whether that expansion ultimately takes the form of sequels, television, comics, games, or something else entirely remains unclear. What is clear is that Parsons never intended Backrooms to be a standalone experience. For him, the film is merely the first doorway into a much larger universe.
“Without a doubt, Backrooms has always been planned to be more of a series that goes outside the confines of this film,” Parsons told the site. “If anything, I would say this is a bit of a foot in the door that would lead to more of a progression towards the true root of the narrative, which has been set up online for years. But a version that maintains accessibility and lets this be the way in.”
Speaking to his fans, he assures them he’s not only planning to make more Backrooms but is also contractually obligated to do so.
“For people who are into it, I’ve got a contract, and I got a hold at my end, and that means I am definitely not done with Backrooms,” he adds. “I’ve got very specific things that I’m working on, things are in the works right now that I am eager to be able to talk about, but, currently, it’s still in a secret mystery world.”
In Backrooms, Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Clark, a furniture store owner who discovers a portal to a strange, empty office space hidden in the back of his shop.
Lukita Maxwell, Mark Duplass, and Finn Bennett also star in the A24 horror movie that’s one of the biggest horror movies of all time.
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