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Soon, we will finally see YouTuber Kane Parsons' popular Backrooms universe expand as the A24 horror movie hits the big screen. However, Parsons isn't forgetting how he got here, as the director promises that the feature will respect the web series' lore.
"For where I wanted to go, I have a lot of loyalties to my online fanbase and the people who have already invested in the story," said Parsons in the latest issue of SFX Magazine. "So it was non-negotiable that whatever happened had to be in strict continuity with that."
In 2022, Parsons kick-started his found footage YouTube series titled The Backrooms based on the creepypasta of the same name. Much like the original story posted on 4Chan in 2019, Parsons' series explores the concept of liminal spaces and what happens when people get lost in never-ending rooms that harbour sinister secrets.
The movie stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, who one day finds a door to a liminal world. But when he starts to explore the wide yellow rooms, he finds out that it's really easy to get lost in the Backrooms. However, just because the concept is heading to the big screen doesn't mean that Parsons is going to spell out what the Backrooms really are or where they came from, which those online have been trying to crack for years.
"It comes down to who is authorised to give answers. I have immense faith in audience members to piece things together contextually," he continues. "I don’t personally believe in true answers. You can describe just about anything in a way that feels like one – and people need that, they appreciate that, they look for it, and they obsess over it. "And, generally speaking, in the Backrooms there’s always been more of a focus on that obsession than on the answers themselves. Not to say there aren’t any."
Parsons is just the latest YouTuber to jump ship. In 2022, Michael Philippou and Danny Philippou seemed to kick off the trend with their movie Talk to Me, and since then, Curry Barker and Markiplier have followed suit. However, as explained by Ejiofor, working with a director who knows the source material inside out, as Parsons does with Backrooms, makes for a completely original filmmaking experience.
In an interview with GamesRadar+, Ejiofor said, "I don't know if I've ever worked with somebody who's built the world that they're exploring; who gets every nook and cranny. Who's built that world in such a granular way. From the ground up. It was really exciting to know you're working with somebody who's literally the only person on the planet who knows how to tell this story. It was pretty remarkable."
Backrooms releases on May 29, 2026. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way.
