Posted by Jennifer Asencio | Published
The long-awaited film adaptation of the YouTube web series Back rooms released in theaters on May 29, 2026, comes with a surprising opening weekend that eclipsed the big blockbusters. It topped the box office with other horror movies Infatuationto fold The Mandalorian and the Grogu down in third place, not a good place for a Disney-Star Wars effort. After all, Back rooms not only is it a low-budget horror film, but it was directed by a 20-year-old who found fame by making independent films on YouTube.
Lost In The Labyrinth
So, what was it Back rooms about, and was it worth all the cheating?
“Captain” Carl (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has a lot of responsibility which he discusses with his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve). Dissatisfied with his life, estranged from his wife, and facing financial problems at his fine furniture store in this 1990s-era piece. In addition, some kind of electrical problem in the store confuses him and increases his debt. Trying to solve this problem, he stumbles upon a door to another dimension below his shop.
Fans familiar with the web series will recognize the iconic yellow walls of what appears to be an unusual office building, dead ends, piles of stuff piled up in stacks or mounted on walls, and shadowy chasers as Carl becomes obsessed with another dimension. He shows up for a chat with Mary, distracted and babbling, leading her to the shop and the mazes beyond the leveling gate.
Parsons is the Real Deal
Back rooms it definitely brings fans what director Kane “Pixels” Parsons has to offer in the web series, but it’s hard for me to say how it was received by newcomers to the scene because I’ve been a fan since I wrote about the original film deal in 2023. Like the Backrooms story, it was certainly part of the Parsons universe available, but whether it lives on in that internet story or not. Based on the fact that it was an instant hit, it seems to have arrived, and its second weekend told a wider story about the true appeal of the film.
The script was written by Will Soodik based on Parsons’ concept, which added a lot of context to the original story. In the web series, the “found” filmmaker is just exploring the setting. Soodik’s additions strengthened the structure and provided a definite setting aside for the limited space of the yellow corridors. It added a shadowy organization that knows about this alternate dimension as much as any of the other characters. There is even a layer of heightened horror as memories and their reliability are tested as part of the magic of space beyond. This crystal synthesis was necessary to transition the series into a feature film while considering the wider world that the audience will only be seeing glimpses of.
Meanwhile, Parsons’ talent as a director cannot be ignored. Although the young man is not old enough to drink champagne at his premiere, his film has always been worthy of his veteran contemporaries, and producers like James Wan (The hidden, The conjuring) let him shine. He uses imagery effectively to get his point across from the start, when he dumps literal trash on what should be a happy memory, foreshadowing trouble to come. He and Soodik are also very subtle, misleading the audience about who the main character really is and where the story is really headed, an effort achieved as much through the cinematography as it is through the script.
Atomic Monster and A24 did not lose weight immediately after the web series, but after a promising young director who had to organize the filming of the film during his high school graduation. The film found its way to many different audiences, but it also showed that there is hope for film as art.
Children Are Good
I went to see it with my son Bruce, who is the same age as Kane Parsons. He became a fan in his own right, but he is also part of Parsons’ generation, and the overwhelming acclaim Parsons received for his project is a beacon of hope for all art, especially young people. “It makes me happy to see people my age not being able to follow their dreams,” said my son Back rooms and the Parsons. “I was a fan of Backrooms myself for a while and I was happy when I saw that the film was coming out.”
Viewers are divided about the ending and the unconfirmed announcements of future installments of the franchise, but I can’t agree with any of them about a single one. Back rooms it was already a franchise, because it was a series of short films with the same labyrinthine theme and setting. Its rise to a feature film does not change the endless energy between the corridors, and its structure admits that there is a lot of story to tell in the character of Phil, played by Mark Duplass (Creep franchise), who is as ignorant and confused as everyone else despite his high position.
I can’t fault the film’s continuation into the franchise or the ending which was as clear as it needed to wrap up Carl and Mary’s story in earnest. Bruce admitted: “I enjoyed the film and felt that the ending made sense. If people with no experience think they can make a better version of the film, I’d like to see them try. This applies to any medium.”
Whatever its arguments, Backrooms set box office records, pulling in nearly $150 million in its opening weekend against a budget of only $10 million. Its second weekend saw it at No. 3 with $26 million, with new releases Masters of the Universe only ahead of it at $29 million (Horror Movie 6 topped the weekend with $55 million). In the film’s second weekend, not only was that bad, but it almost surpassed the biggest opening weekend of the summer blockbuster. This sends a strong message to the big studios that are trying to cater to audiences without thinking: that a movie doesn’t have to be expensive or an established franchise to be popular; it just needs to be original and interesting.
I think Bruce summed up the film well for both fans and skeptics when he told me, “In a world where information and ideas are at our fingertips, it’s important to remember what is opinion and what is fact: the truth here is that the age of the Pixel child can achieve their goals and create film art, the idea is that some think they can do better than all the adults just because there are adults.”
Kane Parsons, and the kids, are really good. Get lost in the middle Back roomsin theaters now.
