Kane Parsons Experience in Creating Backrooms

TLDR: Kane Parsons lonely experience, adding spatial logic and anxiety systems, has contributed to the development of Backrooms.

Image Source: Variety

Kane Parsons, just 20 years old, is making history as A24’s youngest feature director with his horror film Backrooms, arriving in theaters on May 29.

The filmmaker teased his debut at CCXP Mexico, sharing how he is turning his viral YouTube series into a full-length movie starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve.

Also, check out TGV’s upcoming horror titles here!

From YouTube Sensation to Hollywood Feature

Parsons began uploading his Backrooms series to YouTube in early 2022 as a teenager. The videos depicted an infinite maze of humming fluorescent-lit rooms with yellow wallpaper, inspired by internet urban legends.

The A24 adaptation follows a therapist searching for a missing patient inside this strange and unsettling dimension.

A Deeply Lonely Experience

Parsons described the film as a deeply lonely experience. The story focuses on isolated characters living disconnected lives, often showing only one or two people on screen at a time to heighten the sense of emptiness and unease.

Unlike typical dreamlike horror spaces, Parsons’ version of the Backrooms follows a strict spatial logic. If a character walks back the way they came, they will return the same way, but the space continues endlessly.

This structure plays on the brain’s instinct to map physical environments, creating confusion, anxiety, and dread as the maze keeps unfolding.

Tapping Into Collective Anxiety

Parsons believes the story resonates because it reflects a wider collective anxiety around systems, whether economic, industrial, or social.

The emptiness of the Backrooms mirrors both personal isolation and broader societal unease, turning an internet horror concept into something more unsettling and emotionally recognisable.

How Parsons First Made Backrooms

Parsons originally taught himself Blender, a free 3D graphics software, to create his YouTube videos and continued using it during the feature production.

For the film, the team built a massive 30,000-square-foot physical set and conducted around 50 wallpaper tests to find the perfect shade of yellow.

The set became so immersive that some crew members reportedly got lost while moving through it. Parsons said the experience felt strangely real, adding to the unsettling atmosphere of the production.