A24 Opens the Door You Shouldn’t Walk Through – ‘BACKROOMS’ Brings Internet Horror to the Big Screen
There are horror films that make you scream, and then there are those that quietly dismantle your sense of reality. BACKROOMS, the unnerving new nightmare from A24, belongs firmly in the latter category, transforming one of the internet’s most unsettling modern myths into a full-scale cinematic descent into dread.
And a cryptic, eerie, and deeply unsettling first-look taser trailer has now arrived, positioning BACKROOMS as one of 2026’s most engaging and intense experiences. Check it out below:
Here’s the official synopsis:
A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.
Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell, BACKROOMS sees director Kane Parsons, the filmmaker who first terrified millions online with his viral analog horror shorts, continue on a chilling evolution from digital folklore to prestige theatrical horror. Parsons’ original YouTube work tapped into something primal: the fear of endless liminal spaces, fluorescent-lit emptiness, and the creeping suspicion that you are not alone — even when no one is in sight.
A24’s involvement signals something more ambitious than a simple adaptation. Known for elevating horror into the psychological and the surreal, the studio leans hard into BACKROOMS’ existential terror; the horror of dislocation, repetition, and being trapped between worlds. This isn’t a film about jump scares; it’s about erosion. Of safety. Of logic. Of self.
Early buzz points to an atmosphere-first experience: endless yellow corridors, buzzing lights, warped geometry, and a sound design engineered to burrow into your nervous system. Parsons’ minimalist approach allows the imagination to do the heavy lifting, making every empty hallway feel like a threat and every silence scream with intent.
What makes BACKROOMS especially compelling is its generational shift. This is Gen-Z horror at its most refined — born from internet culture, shaped by analogue aesthetics, and sharpened for the cinema. It understands that the scariest thing isn’t the monster you see, but the space that swallows you whole.
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Prepare to get lost. And whatever you do: don’t try to find the exit when BACKROOMS arrives in cinemas on May 28.
Image: A24 Films
