Backrooms Movie Review: A 20-Year-Old YouTuber Made an A24 Horror Masterpiece With Chiwetel Ejiofor

Backrooms Movie Review: A 20-Year-Old YouTuber Made an A24 Horror Masterpiece With Chiwetel Ejiofor

If someone told you a few years ago that a teenager making YouTube videos about liminal office spaces would one day direct an A24 horror feature starring Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, you would have laughed. But that is exactly what happened, and Backrooms — the feature film debut of 20-year-old Kane Parsons — is one of the most daring, atmospheric horror movies of 2026.

From a Single 4chan Photo to a $40 Million Opening Weekend

The Backrooms concept started as a single eerie photograph taken during the renovation of a furniture store in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. That image spread across 4chan and became an internet obsession — the idea of an infinite, maze-like office space that exists somewhere between reality and nightmare. Then, in 2022, Kane Parsons was just 16 years old when he turned the concept into a series of YouTube short films that went absolutely viral. Those videos, with their degraded VHS grain and handheld found-footage aesthetic, captured the "liminal space" movement perfectly and earned comparisons to The Blair Witch Project and Skinamarink.

A24 saw the potential and handed Parsons the keys to a full feature, making him the Orson Welles of the viral-to-cinematic crossover. The script was written by Will Soodik, and the result is a moody, meditative horror trip that channels the spirit of David Lynch — specifically Eraserhead and Inland Empire.

Chiwetel Ejiofor Anchors a Surreal Nightmare

At the center of everything is Clark, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor in one of his most layered performances in years. Clark is a divorced furniture store owner — his store is called Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire — a failed architect simmering with resentment about a life that has not gone according to plan. He sees a therapist named Dr. Mary Kline, played brilliantly by Renate Reinsve (fresh off her breakout role in The Worst Person in the World), and the two reenact Clark's angry, painful backstory through a kind of role-playing session.

One day, while trying to fix the store's broken lighting, Clark passes right through a wall — and enters the Backrooms. What follows is a vast, empty labyrinth of musty yellow carpeting, fluorescent ceiling panels, and rooms that never end. The dread comes not from jump scares but from the suffocating sense of being trapped in an infinite liminal hell. Parsons delivers monsters too — twisted, multi-faced figures and a towering demon version of Clark's own pirate mascot — but they feel more like manifestations of guilt than conventional horror creatures.

The Verdict

Produced by Chernin Entertainment alongside A24, Backrooms is an experimental horror film that could genuinely become the first of its kind to open with a $40 million weekend. Parsons proves himself a wizard of mood and industrial sound design, and Ejiofor gives the film an emotional anchor that keeps it from floating away into pure abstraction. If you are a fan of Ari Aster, Robert Eggers, or anything that makes you question what is real — put this on your watchlist immediately.

Backrooms is now in theaters. Directed by Kane Parsons. Written by Will Soodik. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. An A24 and Chernin Entertainment release.