A24's Backrooms movie has a 'fairly simple' story, its director says — but the new horror movie doesn't dumb down 'all of the lore' that diehard fans love in order to appeal to a wider audience | Tech Radar
Overview
News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Details
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
A24's Backrooms movie has a 'fairly simple' story, its director says — but the new horror movie doesn't dumb down 'all of the lore' that diehard fans love in order to appeal to a wider audience
Exclusive: 'The goal isn't to feed into that simplicity in a negative way'
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Backrooms is the next horror-infused project from acclaimed indie studio A24 (Image credit: A24)
The director of A24's Backrooms movie has had his say on why some film adaptations fail
Kane Parsons thinks some studios ignore the "actual DNA" of franchises that made them popular to begin with
Backrooms' filmmaker is also the creator behind a viral You Tube series that was inspired by this film's source material
The director of A24's Backrooms movie has had his say on why some film and TV adaptations fail — and how his first big-budget project will attempt to avoid similar pitfalls.
Speaking exclusively to Tech Radar, Kane Parsons suggested that the reason some adaptations don't succeed is because studios and/or a production's chief creative team don't fully understand why fans latched onto them in the first place.
For the uninitiated: Backrooms is a feature film retelling of The Backrooms. A creepypasta (read: an internet-created horror folktale) that's only existed since 2019, The Backrooms is described as an impossibly large, interdimensional space filled with a seemingly never-ending number of rooms and corridors, and populated by monstrous entities.
Exit 8's Genki Kawamura on why he's excited for A24's Backrooms horror movie
A24's Backrooms horror movie has some creepy real-life marketing
New Backrooms movie stills feature an eerie suburban setting
Since its conception, The Backrooms has not only become one of the internet's most popular analog horrors but also spawned a wave of indie horror videogames and served as the inspiration for an American Horror Stories episode.
Parsons created a You Tube series inspired by The Backrooms, which went viral in early 2019 (Image credit: A24)
Additionally, a viral You Tube series, which began in 2022, has amassed hundreds of millions of views and further helped to shape The Backrooms' extensive lore. The individual behind said You Tube phenomenon? A then-16-year-old Parsons, who was hired to direct A24's movie adaptation just over a year after his first video metaphorically caught fire.
Given his prominent role in popularizing The Backrooms and fleshing out its mythos through his short films, Parsons appears to be the ideal candidate to helm Backrooms. It's a decision that, despite Parsons' tender age — he's still only 20 — should also pay off, especially with Backrooms set to attract long-time fans of its source material and Parsons' work to see if its big-screen adaptation is as faithful as Backrooms' trailer makes it out to be.
Other studios might want to take that expert-first leaf out of the A24 playbook, too, especially from the perspective of live-action reimaginings of other forms of media. Indeed, from Netflix's Cowboy Bebop TV show and Paramount's The Last Airbender film, to the Resident Evil movies and more besides, Parsons believes that studio interference and/or hiring the wrong people to oversee such adaptations are the root cause of their downfall.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is one of the few famous faces you'll see in Backrooms' movie adaptation (Image credit: A24)
"I think what happens is there's an overvaluation of the costumes worn by an IP [intellectual property]," Parsons told me when I asked how Backrooms threads the needle of appealing to diehard fans of The Backrooms and general moviegoers alike.
"And that's where most screen adaptations go wrong," he continued. "It's almost as though the skin, specific characters, and other elements of an IP are taken without any of the actual DNA that motivated those creative decisions in the first place. So, I feel like what you need to do — and we did this on our film — is rewind all the way to the beginning, and remind ourselves why people latched onto that initial post [of The Backrooms] and my first short film.
"Fundamentally, for all of the lore and depth, The Backrooms is a story playing in the periphery of a fairly simple concept. Whether people have seen it online or not, I think they can understand it's pretty supernatural in its makeup, so it'll be quite digestible for them.
"And I'd also say the goal isn't to feed into that simplicity in a negative way," Parsons added of one of this year's most exciting new movies. "It's figuring out what was so effective about that very first, almost sensory experience that fans had, and following that thread to build this movie from the ground up."
Backrooms launches in theaters worldwide on Friday, May 29.
Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.
As Tech Radar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.
Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.
Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
1 The long-awaited Fight Club 4K Blu-ray has finally arrived — but not only is it missing Dolby Atmos and Vision, it's also been the subject of controversy on Reddit due to David Fincher's changes
2‘We’ve seen this movie already’ — the Red Magic 11S Pro is blazing fast and games like a champ, but it's far too similar to its predecessor
3 Google Health is getting heat for being 'unbelievably bad' after replacing the Fitbit app — but Google says fixes are coming
4'AI alone is not enough': 99% of CEOs say they are getting ready for layoffs caused by AI
5'The DLC is clearly having us play as Geralt, not Ciri' — The Witcher 3 fans speculate about the new Songs of the Past expansion as some hope for a Witcher 4 tie-in
Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.
Key Takeaways
- News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
- Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
- Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
- Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
- Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards
