A24 has dropped the official trailer for Backrooms, offering the clearest look yet at the long-anticipated big-screen take on the viral horror phenomenon. Watch the trailer above, then read on for what this unsettling descent into the unknown has in store.
A Liminal Nightmare Comes to Life
What began as a cryptic internet post has grown into a full-blown cinematic experience. The trailer leans hard into the eerie logic of the Backrooms: endless yellow corridors, damp carpet underfoot, and that suffocating sense of being somewhere you absolutely shouldn’t be.
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At the centre of it all is a simple but unnerving hook. A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom. Step through it, and reality no longer applies. From there, the footage expands into something far more disorienting. The Backrooms are presented as a sprawling, extradimensional maze, a place where navigation feels impossible and escape even less likely.
“Look, I know how this sounds, but you got to understand it’s massive in there,” Clarke, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Doctor Strange), tells Dr Mary Kilne, played by Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value).
The trailer finishes with Mary entering the Backrooms herself. “Hello?” she asks aloud after stepping through a strange chalk-outlined door in the wall. The next shot shows a dishevelled, terrified Mary attempting to make her way through what look like narrowing walls.
From Viral Shorts to Feature Film
There’s a fitting full-circle quality to this adaptation. Director Kane Parsons, who first brought the Backrooms to life through his viral YouTube series, now steps into the feature space with the same concept that captured millions of viewers.
It’s a notable leap. Parsons began the project as a teenager, and his early short films quickly gained traction online, drawing attention for their found-footage style and uncanny sense of space. He also became the youngest director to work with A24, having been just 19 when the project was announced.
The screenplay is by Will Soodik, based on Parsons’ series and the online horror concept that inspired it.
Cast, Creatives, and Release Date
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.
Backrooms is set to hit Australian cinemas on May 28 and U.S. cinemas on May 29, 2026.
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