Horror bringing unsettling internet theory to life was so creepy actor didn’t want to be alone on set
The director of a horror movie which is set to bring an unsettling internet theory to life has spoken out about the making of the film, with the sets being so unrealistic that an actor said the ‘air felt evil’ and didn’t want to be left alone.
A few years ago Kane Parsons was a 16-year-old with a hugely successful YouTube series recreating a 4Chan horror meme garnered 10s of millions of views, with 72 million views on the original video.
This viral meme called the ‘backrooms’ involved the concept that, if you weren’t careful, you could accidentally fall through a wall and end up in a creepy mirror of our world in which you become stuck in endless liminal hallways where monsters roam.
Parsons was approached about making this into a film called Backrooms, directing the movie at just 19-years-old to become the youngest director in A24’s history.
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Backrooms does not just feature a prodigious director and viral internet meme to back it up however, the film also features two of the best actors working in Hollywood right now.
The movie follows Chiwetel Ejiofor who plays Clark, the manager of a furniture store who ends up in the backrooms after falling through a wall. His therapist, Dr Mary Klin, played by Renate Reinsve, goes looking for him and ends up trapped in the terrifying backrooms herself.
Despite being just 19 directing two Oscar nominated actors, Parsons’ film looks set to be the box office shock of 2026 so far with a predicted $35 million domestic open.
Speaking exclusively to LADbible, Parsons spoke about how he went about bringing the disturbing internet theory to life and how it unsettled even the actors.
Despite the massively increased budget Parsons still decided to use Blender to create 3D models of all the sets, the same open source software he used to create his YouTube series at 16.
These then became the bizarre sets in the film which are intentionally unsettling liminal spaces.
Speaking about what it was like walking round the sets, Parsons said: “I was so used to it because I’d designed the sets on blender, I knew it like the back of my hand. But I know certainly Renate [Reinsve] never wanted to be left alone on set and felt like the air was evil in there.
“There was definitely a foreboding… I think the tone you got in the film was very much how it felt to be there in person.
“It’s not just a factor of the final product, it felt that way to be there.”
Parsons said that, after the success of the YouTube series a ‘bunch of companies’ began reaching out, stating that it ‘kind of snowballed from there’.
Backrooms releases 29 May, 2026 in the UK.
Topics: Film, TV and Film, Viral, YouTube
Michael Slavin