Kane Parsons, 20, debuts as feature director with Backrooms
Kane Parsons, 20, made his feature debut directing A24's Backrooms and also composed the film's score. The movie uses claustrophobic, liminal production design and sustains white-knuckle tension through its first two acts; critics praised those elements while several reviewers faulted the third-act creature reveal and payoff. Parsons cites Boards of Canada as a key influence, and one track from the duo's new album Inferno plays over the end credits. Coming from a YouTube background, Parsons' bold ambition and eerie aesthetic mark him as a notable new voice in horror filmmaking.
i keep seeing the backrooms movie get called a "youtuber movie" but like... kane parsons makes short films. he was already a filmmaker, he just posted his work to youtube. imo that's a little different compared to, like, markiplier mainly being a let's player and then making the leap to feature film
Nyalive27to be fair mark did also have a couple film projects under his belt, albeit interactive ones
Gaia_BentosZX515I have a gut feeling they aren't generally used to seeing movies like it being made, being conditioned to hyperfocus on massive, big budget, all-star blockbuster film franchises (complete with post-credits scenes teasing the next film).
pigeon idiot12ah but you see it's based on a popular internet phenomenon which automatically makes it youtube, reddit or whichever minor internet pejorative we've decided to grind into worthlessness this week
ZeldaTheSwordsman3So he's more comparable to James Rolfe
Too early for an official figure but it looks like BACKROOMS will debut to $81 million this weekend in the United States, and $118 million worldwide. The film's budget? $10 million. Kane Parsons, ladies and gentlemen.
Ellie11Saw it for a second time yesterday, and I really am amazed by how confident and assured the swing is. Every detail feels extremely intentional. 20 years old. Man.
Todd Walker7When will we be getting “The Backrooms AND GROGU”?
Rootless Cosmopolitan3It is a superb film. Unnerving, strange, unique, really stays with you. #Backrooms
I talked to Kane Parsons about his incredible journey from turning a 4chan meme into a viral horror webseries at 16 years old and then the deeply unnerving feature film ‘Backrooms’—which is shattering A24’s record for opening weekend box office:
Miles Klee 🦉56Mentioned in the piece, but as for whether Backrooms passes the “is it actually scary” test: after my press screening I was walking back to my car alone in a silent parking garage and starting to mildly freak out lol
KaoticVibes3I remember subbing to kane years before his blow up with his historical attack on Titan videos. Im glad he accomplished his dream and delivered a solid film that was just his YouTube vids. Im more of an SCP guy and never clicked with the backrooms but gave it a try since it was Kane.
