Prepare to be creeped out: The first trailer for A24’s Backrooms has arrived, and it’s as eerie as you’d expect from a film adapting Kane Parsons’ viral YouTube series. But here’s where it gets controversial: Can a YouTube-born concept truly translate into a theatrical horror masterpiece? Only time will tell. Directed by Parsons himself, the film is set to hit theaters on May 29, marking the 20-year-old as the youngest filmmaker in A24’s history—a milestone that’s as impressive as it is polarizing. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia, Backrooms follows two characters who stumble upon a mysterious door in the basement of a furniture showroom. And this is the part most people miss: The door leads to an endless, labyrinthine space that seems to remember and recreate rooms—a concept that’s both fascinating and deeply unsettling. Ejiofor’s voiceover in the trailer hints at the film’s existential dread: ‘I found a place. It’s massive in there and just goes on and on and on.’ Co-financed by A24 and Chernin Entertainment, with producers like Shawn Levy and James Wan on board, the film is a high-stakes gamble on Parsons’ vision. But it’s not just about the movie—it’s part of a larger trend of YouTubers breaking into traditional media. Take Markiplier’s Iron Lung, for example, which defied expectations to rake in over $43 million globally. Yet, as Markiplier pointed out in a recent interview, the stigma against YouTube creators persists. ‘It has to be toppled and then toppled again, until it becomes normalized,’ he said. So, is Backrooms the next step in this revolution, or just a fleeting experiment? What do you think? Does YouTube have what it takes to reshape the film industry, or will it always be seen as an outsider? Let’s debate in the comments!
