The new trailer for Backrooms proves that it might finally be a horror movie that gets creepypasta right
A24 released the final trailer for Backrooms, and if you’ve been sleeping on this one, now’s the time to pay attention. The film hits theaters on May 29, and the story behind it is unlike anything else to be shown this year. It started as a single anonymous photo posted on a weird message board in 2019 and grew into one of the scariest urban legends on the internet.
From a 4chan post to an A24 feature film
In 2019, someone on 4chan’s paranormal board posted a photo of a large, empty room with a yellow carpet. It looks like somewhere else you might see it well but you can’t quite place it, and that discomfort is the whole point. These spaces are called liminal spaces, and Backrooms are the virtual Internet version of the concept.
The legend is simple but effective. If you accidentally “take it out” without reality, a word borrowed from video game problems where the characters go through solid objects, you end up in an endless mess of yellow rooms, damp carpet, and flickering lights with no exit and no sense.
From that one photo, an entire subculture exploded across YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and Roblox. Separation creator Dan Erickson cited Backrooms as one of the inspirations behind the hit Apple TV series.
Here’s the new trailer for Backrooms
The latest Backrooms trailer expands the world a lot. You get yellow rooms and fluorescent lights, which are negotiable, but you also get Poolrooms, a fan-favorite extension of Backrooms with flooded, tiled spaces with eerie, dreamlike lighting.
The trailer confirms that many regular people are entering the Backrooms together for the first time, which completely changes the dynamic compared to Parsons’ YouTube series. You also get a brief, confusing shot of a seagull that somehow got in, which is the kind of absurd, mysterious detail that makes the Backrooms tale so compelling.
The film follows a strange door that opens under a furniture showroom. When the therapist’s patient disappears into reality, we must step in and follow him.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (The life of Chuck, Doctor Strange) plays Clark, a furniture store owner who discovers the gate first. Dr. Mary Kline, the therapist who comes in behind him, is played by Renate Reinsve. The supporting cast includes Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell (It is decreasing), and Avan Jogia.
Why horror fans should give this internet adaptation a real chance
Backrooms isn’t the first online urban legend to make its way to theaters. Slender man received a film in 2018, and the results were considered disappointing. But Backrooms feels different, because the person who directs it is the same person who has already proven that he can do it on a small budget without the support of a studio.
The film was directed by Kane Parsons, better known online as Kane Pixels, who turned an internet horror concept into the most watched horror series on YouTube.
Critics who caught the early premiere were enthusiastic. The film has already been called “completely unique and original” and “the best creepypasta adaptation yet.” For a movie that hasn’t even opened yet, that’s an amazing start.
