How A24's 'Backrooms' recreates the internet's creepiest liminal space

A surreal horror film set in the Backrooms premieres May 29 and is directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, A24’s youngest-ever director. Parsons developed the Backrooms concept as a middle schooler by browsing sub-Reddits, fan forums, and wiki posts, then expanded it through YouTube videos that built a large fan base and led to a mainstream spinoff. The film adapts a small narrative from existing Backrooms lore, set in 1993. A furniture store owner finds a portal in his warehouse basement and is followed into the space by his psychiatrist. Production design focuses on recreating the iconic yellowed hallways, dingy carpets, and fluorescent lighting as a tangible film environment.

"There's a place that you've never actually set foot in, but your subconscious recognizes it. It's a maze of hallways full of yellowed wallpaper, dingy cream carpet, and fluorescent lights-an amalgamation of all the in-between, liminal spaces that you've ever briefly occupied. Just looking at an image of it triggers a sense of déjà vu for some forgotten childhood doctor's office, playdate, or store. This is the Backrooms, and it's the playground where A24 's new surreal horror film takes place."

"The Backrooms, which debuts on May 29, was directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, A24's youngest-ever director. Parsons discovered the concept of the Backrooms as a middle schooler by trawling through sub-Reddits, fan forums, and wiki posts. Since then, he's essentially created a Backrooms canon through a series of videos on his YouTube channel, building his own rich Backrooms lore that's amassed such a fervent fan base that it's getting its own mainstream movie spinoff."

"The adaptation fleshes out a small narrative snippet from the overarching Backrooms story that Parsons has already crafted on YouTube. It takes place in 1993, following a furniture store owner (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who discovers a portal to the Backrooms in his warehouse's basement and is ultimately followed into the unknowable space by his psychiatrist (played by Renate Reinsve)."

"In order to transport viewers into this world alongside its characters, Parsons gave his production design team a daunting imperative: turn the internet's most iconic liminal space into a physical film set. The first known reference to the Backrooms traces back to a 2010s post on 4chan. It shows a series of empty rooms filled with yellow wallpaper, close ceilings, and fluorescent office lights."

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