Prepare your nerves for the most existential crisis since realizing your IKEA furniture will never be as stable as the instructions promised.
20-year-old Kane Parsons, who is either a cinematic prodigy or someone who skipped all his high school classes to make YouTube videos, has blessed the internet with *The Backrooms* series. With over 190 million views, he’s officially accomplished more before turning 21 than most of us will in our entire lives. Congratulations, Kane—you’ve made the rest of us look like lazy potatoes.
For those blissfully unaware, *The Backrooms* is based on that cursed internet image of an office space that looks like it was designed by someone who deeply resents humanity. It’s the kind of place where you’d expect to find a printer that only works when it feels like it and a motivational poster that says “Hang in There” next to a photo of a noose.
Now, A24—the studio that brought you *Midsommar* (because nothing says “fun night out” like watching a cult disembowel someone in broad daylight)—has decided to turn Parsons’ viral nightmare fuel into a full-length feature. Because why stop at YouTube fame when you can traumatize an even larger audience in theaters?
The trailer introduces us to a therapist whose patient vanishes into this liminal hellscape, prompting her to venture into the unknown. Honestly, this is peak therapist behavior—instead of just billing the guy for missed sessions, she’s like, “No, I must save him from the endless yellow hallways of despair.” Truly, a hero for our times.
The cast is stacked with heavy hitters like Chiwetel Ejiofor, who probably read the script and thought, “Finally, a role that doesn’t require me to wear a suit and look concerned.” Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia round out the ensemble, presumably competing to see who can deliver the most unhinged performance while navigating a set that looks like it was decorated by a colorblind accountant.
Produced by Atomic Monster, 21 Laps, and Chernin Entertainment, this film has more production companies than sense. But hey, when you’re adapting a viral internet meme into a feature-length horror film, you need all the help you can get. It’s like trying to turn a fart joke into a Shakespearean tragedy—someone has to believe in the vision.
The poster alone is enough to make you question your life choices. It features a figure standing in a hallway that stretches into infinity, bathed in the kind of lighting that makes you wonder if the gaffer was paid in exposure. If this doesn’t make you want to quit your job and become a hermit, nothing will.
So, mark your calendars, folks. *The Backrooms* is coming to remind you that no matter how bad your office job is, at least you’re not trapped in an endless maze of fluorescent-lit purgatory. Unless, of course, you *are* trapped in such a place, in which case, we wish you the best of luck. Try not to think about the existential dread—it’s probably just the fluorescent lights playing tricks on you.
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
