A24’s ‘Backrooms’ Marks Historic Box Office Entry for Youngest Director

A24 has released ‘Backrooms’, the feature film debut of 20-year-old filmmaker Kane Parsons, marking a significant commercial milestone for the independent studio. The film is tracking for a record-breaking opening weekend, surpassing the studio’s previous box office benchmarks. Parsons, who directed the project, is noted as A24’s youngest director to date, a title secured following the rapid ascent of his career from online creator to Hollywood filmmaker.

The movie is an expansion of Parsons’ 2022 nine-minute YouTube web series, which itself was inspired by a 2019 post on the 4chan /x/ forum. That original post described a liminal horror setting characterised by “mono-yellow” walls, the smell of moist carpet, and endless empty rooms. Parsons utilised Blender 3D and Adobe After Effects to create his initial video, which went viral within a month of its upload and attracted immediate studio interest despite his initial distrust of Hollywood offers.

Produced by horror filmmakers Osgood Perkins and James Wan, with a script by Will Soodik, the film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark, a divorcé and problem drinker, alongside Renate Reinsve as his therapist, Mary. The narrative follows Clark as he discovers a glowing seam in the wall of his failing furniture store in San Jose, California, which serves as a portal to the Backrooms. The setting is deliberately placed in the 1990s, a choice that prevents characters from using modern technology such as Google or drones to investigate the phenomenon.

Parsons has stated that the film withholds definitive answers to the mythology to avoid weighing the concept down with fan theories. This approach aims to balance the expectations of an avid online community with the needs of general audiences. The director believes the project’s success reflects a demand for original content and highlights the influence of overlapping online creative communities on contemporary storytelling.

The release of ‘Backrooms’ has been described as a landmark moment for Hollywood, illustrating the industry’s increasing focus on scouting digital platforms for new horror talent. Parsons, who was 16 when he created the original series, has expressed that the film’s reception validates the artistic potential of material born from internet culture, offering a rare example of wholly original cinematic content.