A24 has quickly become a major player in independent horror, alongside companies like Neon Films, thanks to films like Pearl, The Witch, Midsommar, Ex Machina, Green Room, Heretic, and Bring Her Back. This year, they’re pushing boundaries even further. In March, they’ll release Undertone, an innovative audio-horror film gaining attention at festivals, followed in May by Backrooms, a horror movie based on a popular and sometimes debated internet legend that started in online chat rooms.
The Backrooms 4Chan Origins Explained
The Backrooms started as an idea on the online forum 4chan in 2019. It’s a fictional, endlessly large place of empty rooms that people become trapped in by seemingly phasing through walls – a phenomenon called “no-clipping.” The concept began with a photo of a Wisconsin toy store being renovated, shared on a paranormal-themed board. Users were asked to share unsettling pictures of empty locations. One user described the original photo, unknowingly creating the name and legend of “The Backrooms.” They described it as a place filled with the smell of damp carpet, unsettling yellow tones, the constant hum of fluorescent lights, and countless empty rooms – a truly inescapable space.
The post concluded with a line that really captured the attention of horror fans: “If you hear something moving around close by, pray it hasn’t heard you.”
The idea of The Backrooms as a creepy, otherworldly place quickly became popular online. People started creating different levels or ‘floors’ within The Backrooms, and the concept spread to platforms like YouTube and TikTok. This led to a diverse fandom, with some exploring it as science fiction, others as horror, and still others as comedy. In 2022, filmmaker Kane Parsons created a YouTube series about a company that discovers and experiments with The Backrooms, causing the boundary between our world and theirs to weaken. The series tells stories of people exploring the space, or accidentally getting trapped and having to escape from monsters and creatures. After making over 20 short films that gained hundreds of millions of views, Parsons signed a deal with A24 to make a full-length movie.
The Backrooms Cast & Synopsis
The film The Backrooms features a talented cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor (known from Doctor Strange), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), Mark Duplass (Creep), Finn Bennett (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Lukita Maxwell (Shrinking), and Avan Jogia (Caprica). The story centers around a therapist who must venture into a strange, otherworldly dimension to find her missing patient.
The film comes out in cinemas on May 29th. Join the conversation about the year in horror on the ComicBook Forum!
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2026-02-24 22:18