A24 has dropped the official teaser for Backrooms, the big-screen adaptation of the viral horror phenomenon created by Kane Parsons. Watch the teaser above, then read on for what this unnerving descent into liminal space has in store.
A Viral Nightmare Levels Up at A24
What began as a low-budget found-footage upload has evolved into another of A24’s intriguing genre swings. Backrooms is based on Parsons’ hugely popular YouTube horror series, itself inspired by the online urban legend of endless, empty office-like rooms where reality appears to misfire.
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Parsons — known online as Kane Pixels (his YouTube channel here) — makes his feature directorial debut here and, at just 20 years old, becomes the youngest filmmaker in A24’s history. It’s a significant leap from internet horror prodigy to studio-backed theatrical release, and while this teaser doesn’t reveal much, it suggests he’s sticking to the minimalist dread that made the original videos so effective.
A Room That Changes — And Remembers
Smartly, the teaser keeps things strikingly simple. It opens on what looks like an abandoned, yellow-tinged room, lit by that familiar, harsh fluorescent glow viewers of the original videos will recognise. Then the camera begins to descend, lowering through what feel like shifting “floors”, revealing the same space subtly altering as it moves. The layout morphs. The room appears to change — or perhaps reset — in ways that are difficult to fully process.
Over this, a calm voice describes discovering a place that is “massive” and “just goes on and on and on”, filled with countless rooms. The speaker suggests the space doesn’t merely construct these environments — it remembers them. And the more it remembers something, the less it does.
The official logline reads: “After a therapist’s patient goes missing into a dimension beyond reality, she has to enter the unknown to save him.”
The Cast and Creative Team
The cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve in the lead roles, alongside Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia. The screenplay is by Will Soodik (Ash vs Evil Dead), with Roberto Patino also credited. Cinematography is by Jeremy Cox (Keeper), and production design comes from Danny Vermette (Longlegs, The Monkey), with producers including James Wan and Shawn Levy, and Atomic Monster and 21 Laps among the companies involved.
Release Date
A24 will release Backrooms in U.S. cinemas on May 29, 2026.
