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- Kane Parsons: from online shorts to A24 feature filmmaking
- Plot essentials: a 1990s nightmare tucked behind a store
- How production design and sound shape the film’s atmosphere
- Filmmaking choices that pay off
- Where the movie loosens its grip
- Performances and franchise potential
- Why you might want to see it in theaters
A new generation of horror filmmakers is rewriting the rules, and Kane Parsons is one of the most striking examples. The 20-year-old creator who built a following with Backrooms shorts on YouTube has taken his vision to the big screen with an A24-backed feature. The result is a film that captures the viral creepypasta’s eerie logic while testing the limits of a short-to-feature leap.
Kane Parsons: from online shorts to A24 feature filmmaking
Parsons rose to prominence by crafting tense, low-fi Backrooms shorts that spread across social platforms. Tens of millions of views followed, and a devoted fanbase formed around his knack for claustrophobic imagery.
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His jump to a studio-backed feature places him among a wave of digital creators turning pro. Directors who started online have already made similar moves, but Parsons brings a youthful, hands-on approach. He co-wrote the screenplay with Will Soodik and took responsibility for the film’s lighting design.
Plot essentials: a 1990s nightmare tucked behind a store
Set in Santa Clara Valley during the 1990s, the film centers on Clark, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Once aiming for an architecture career, Clark now runs a furniture store and battles isolation and a recent breakup.
Late one night, a flickering light in the shop’s basement reveals a hidden doorway. Passing through it, Clark and later companions enter a sprawling, disorienting maze known as the Backrooms.
The space is defined by fluorescent yellow lighting, odd furniture arrangements, and corridors that refuse to end. Dread grows less from jump scares and more from the feeling that familiar things are subtly, wrongfully distorted.
How production design and sound shape the film’s atmosphere
The film’s environment is a character in itself. Production and set teams built a world that feels both mundane and alien. Their work channels the 4chan-originated creepypasta while adding cinematic detail.
- Production design: Danny Vermette created rooms that flip between cavern and closet.
- Art direction: Alan Derksen layered everyday objects into unsettling compositions.
- Set decoration: Trevor Johnston supplied the detritus that makes the space feel lived-in and uncanny.
Parsons’ lighting choices deepen the unease. He uses harsh fluorescents and shadow to warp depth. The soundscape is equally deliberate. Composer Edo Van Breemen wrote an oppressive score, and sound editor Eugenio Battaglia stitched in low-frequency rumbles and the constant hum of buzzing lights.
The result: an immersive, liminal environment that exploits the discomfort of near-familiarity.
Filmmaking choices that pay off
Parsons retains many traits from his shorts. The film nods to found-footage aesthetics and grainy textures, then expands them into a full cinematic language.
One sequence stands out in the middle act. Cinematographer Jeremy Cox and Parsons opt for handheld, POV shots that feel immediate and terrifying. The camera becomes a fleeing body, and the viewer experiences panic in real time.
- Dynamic camerawork heightens disorientation.
- Pacing alternates slow dread and sudden bursts of motion.
- Sound design keeps tension taut between visual beats.
When the film leans on these techniques, it reaches moments of pure horror filmmaking: suspense that is uncomfortable and unforgettable.
Where the movie loosens its grip
The film is at its strongest before it explains too much. The second act, with its maze and POV chase, is the creative peak.
In the final act, the filmmakers reveal the nature of what stalks the characters. That choice reduces mystery. Showing the threat in detail blunts some fear built earlier.
Still, the third act offers answers while keeping some questions open. The film never becomes silly or careless. It simply trades a portion of its ambiguous dread for narrative clarity.
Performances and franchise potential
Chiwetel Ejiofor anchors the film with a grounded, weary performance. Renate Reinsve appears as Clark’s therapist, and younger cast members add urgency during the maze sequences.
Parsons’ debut also reads as the start of something larger. The movie sets up themes and imagery that could extend into sequels or spin-offs. Given the source material’s internet-driven mythology, this film is poised to become a recognizable horror property.
Why you might want to see it in theaters
- Immersive production: the sets and sound create a theater-sized experience.
- Directorial voice: Parsons translates his short-form strengths to a feature length.
- Memorable sequences: a second-act chase sequence delivers visceral fear.
Backrooms is in theaters now.
