Here’s our first real look at Kane Parson’s “Backrooms” via a full-length trailer. Keep an eye out on the amount of views this one gets — it’s already at 23,000 clicks in less than 5 minutes. I’m predicting this might turn out to be a huge hit, and the biggest one A24 has ever produced.
Kane Parsons was just 17 when he was hired by A24 to helm a feature-length version of his YouTube short “The Backrooms.” The original YouTube series employed a found-footage style to explore eerie spaces that feel like they exist just beyond the boundaries of reality. Parsons became a viral sensation thanks to “The Backrooms,” the first in a series of found-footage horror shorts that have collectively racked up more than 200 million views.
This trailer comes over a week after a very successful test screening for “Backrooms,” Even those unfamiliar with the story’s lore felt the film did an effective job expanding and clarifying Parsons’ world, gradually revealing how its strange mythology works. Much of the praise centered on the two leads, Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who are finally seen in the trailer.
This film seems poised to lean heavily on atmosphere—which is music to my ears—paired with a somewhat yellow-tinged, unsettling visual style, distinctive production design, and expansive widescreen cinematography. And really, can a movie starring Reinave and Ejiofor ever be anything less than watchable?
The story follows a therapist (Reinsve) searching for her patient (Ejiofor) after he disappears into a labyrinth of seemingly endless, logic-defying rooms hidden beneath his furniture store. This won’t be your typical horror movie either. Rather than relying on jump scares, the film leans into sustained mystery, mood, and disturbing imagery, with one attendee noting its unexpectedly mature themes and the way the central mystery remains front and center until the very end.
There have been whispers that A24 would like “Backrooms” to premiere at Cannes. We’ll see if that happens; if not, I think it’ll probably do just fine going straight to theaters.
The “Backrooms” cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia. Roberto Patino (“DMZ”) wrote the screenplay. Meanwhile, Shawn Levy and James Wan are among the film’s many producers. The film is set to hit theaters on May 29, 2026.
It’s been seven years since Alma Har’el’s feature debut, “Honey Boy,” which was written by and starred Shia LaBeouf — she is now set to direct her next film, with a very talented cast.