‘Backrooms’ With Mixed Early Reactions, Tracking at $25M–$30M

I’m sure some of you have seen yesterday’s tracking for Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms,” which was made for under $10M and is being distributed by A24. The trades are saying it will open to $20M+, but they’re really lowballing the numbers. Internally, it’s more like $25M–$30M — the only way it lands closer to $20M is if the reviews turn out to be disastrous.

That said, “Backrooms,” which hits theaters later this month, premiered last night at Beyond Fest, and honestly, given how generous social media reactions usually are, I expected the usual overwhelming praise. Instead, many of the responses so far feel more like, “I need to sit with this for a while and let it sink in.” In the last year or so, these early social media reviewers have even picked up the informal label “funko critics” — a nod to how curated and collector-friendly a lot of their takes can feel. They’re all being very polite, but you can read between the lines.

You can check out the reactions below. I won’t bother linking the usual studio plants, such as Fandango’s Erik Davis, who unsurprisingly loved the film — or maybe I will, just to give you a contrast of how his opinion differs from the rest.

Kane Parsons was just 17 when he was hired by A24 to helm a feature-length adaptation of his YouTube short “The Backrooms.” The original 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.

Parsons is part of an incoming wave of YouTubers making the jump to cinema. This movement is very real, and will not let up anytime soon.

Over the last few years, it’s been relentless. Hollywood is hiring very young online creators, handing them multimillion-dollar budgets, and it’s resulted in some genuinely interesting work. So far this decade, we’ve had Parsons (”Backrooms”), Curry Barker (“Obsession”), RackaRacka (“Talk to Me”), Chris Stuckmann (“Shelby Oaks”), Markiplier (“Iron Lung”), and many more still to come.

The “Backrooms” cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia. Roberto Patino (“DMZ”) wrote the screenplay, while Shawn Levy and James Wan are among the film’s many producers.

“Backrooms” is set to hit theaters on May 29, 2026 via A24.