Backrooms, the psychological horror film from 20-year-old director Kane Parsons, has marked a new bright spot for the horror genre.
The film, which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve and Mark Duplass, debuted May 29. It brought in more than $81 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, off a $10 million budget, according to The Numbers, a film industry data site that tracks box office revenue.
Backrooms not only routed at the box office but made history in the process, with Parsons becoming the youngest director to helm a #1 box office film globally, A24 confirmed to ABC News this week.
The film is also the largest original horror debut in history, according to the studio.
Additionally, Obsession, a horror film starring Inde Navarrette that debuted in May, has brought in more than $104 million in the weeks since its May 15 theatrical premiere, according to The Numbers.
According to a brief synopsis from A24, Backrooms centers around a “strange doorway” that “appears in the basement of a furniture showroom” one day.
A trailer for the film shows Ejiofor’s character, Clark, the furniture store owner, discovering the doorway before ending up in a large, dimly lit room with nothing but furniture piled up at the center and various voices speaking foreign languages over a fuzzy loudspeaker.
He later explains his confusion to his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline, played by Reinsve, before the trailer returns to the mysterious space, with Clark now exploring with some company. The trailer concludes with Reinsve entering the space as well.
Backrooms was written by Will Soodik, and was produced by horror filmmakers James Wan and Osgood Perkins, Arrival producer Shawn Levy and more. Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell also star in the film.
Backrooms is the debut film from director Parsons, who came to prominence via a series of wildly popular YouTube videos exploring a similar premise, most of the videos garnering millions of views apiece.
His most popular video, simply titled The Backrooms (Found Footage), has accumulated more than 81 million views since it was shared on Jan. 7, 2022.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.