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Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Clark, a furniture store owner who gets lost in endless yellow corridors in "Backrooms."
A24
A furniture store owner disappears into a labyrinth of endless yellow rooms. With “Backrooms,” 20-year-old director Kane Parsons has turned an internet meme into a box office success.
Clark doesn’t know how he got in. He doesn’t know how to get out. And he doesn’t know what lurks in the endless yellow corridors. In the sci-fi horror film “Backrooms,” the furniture store owner (played by Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers a secret door that leads him into a seemingly endless series of eerie rooms. When he doesn’t return, his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) sets out to find him—and soon finds herself trapped in the endless yellow backrooms.
"Backrooms" has been playing in U.S. theaters since May 29 and has already broken every record held by production company A24. According to the industry portal "Deadline," the film grossed $81 million in the U.S. during its opening weekend alone. To date, international earnings are reported to exceed $212 million. After less than two weeks, that’s already more than A24 earned with superstar Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme” over its entire theatrical run. That film grossed $191 million.
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The film’s success stems in part from the fact that it is based on a highly successful series. Director Kane Parsons—now 20 years old—produced a YouTube series before the theatrical hit that explored the concept of “Backrooms.” He was 16 at the time; the 22 episodes have since amassed over 200 million combined views on YouTube.
After high school, Parsons decided against college. Instead, he produced the film adaptation of his series with A24. The budget was $10 million.
But the concept of eerie backrooms wasn’t Parsons’ idea. “Backrooms” is actually based on an internet phenomenon. In 2019, a user posted an image on the internet platform 4chan showing such a backroom: yellow walls, harsh light from fluorescent tubes, ugly wallpaper. An image that “just feels somehow wrong,” he wrote.
The internet’s reaction wasn’t long in coming: users began spinning stories about what might lurk in such backrooms, far removed from reality. “Creepypasta” is the internet’s term for this. It primarily refers to horror stories that are spread through constant copying (the term is a combination of “creepy” and “copypasta,” from “copy and paste”).
Director Parsons follows the internet’s lead: he, too, wants to spin the story further. In interviews, he has made no secret of the fact that a sequel is planned.
Critical reception of the film has been largely positive. The “Guardian” praises the film as “brilliantly chilling and truly unsettling” and highlights the performances of Ejiofor and Reinsve as “simply stunning.” "Variety" praises Parsons as a "master of atmosphere" and compares him to the young David Lynch. The "New York Times" is somewhat more reserved : While the concept works, it loses its power when stretched to feature-length.
For those who want to form their own opinion: The film will be shown at blue Cinema starting June 13 as part of a series of preview screenings. The official theatrical release is June 18, 2026.
