A never-ending maze of empty rooms and fluorescent-lit hallways only surfaces the ominous concept known as the backrooms.
This liminal space was first inspired by photographs shared on 4chan, an anonymous image board website, showing yellow-tinted walls and carpet of a renovated HobbyTown store in Wisconsin, according to a Forbes article. The backrooms are primarily known for their eeriness, causing one to form a distorted sense of reality.
As of recently, it has been announced that this uncanny phenomenon will be brought to life through an upcoming movie titled “Backrooms.” This movie was first teased on February 24, 2026, via a one minute video uploaded by A24 and Kane Pixels on YouTube. On March 31, 2026, the official trailer was released on YouTube, as well as other popular social media platforms like Instagram.
The trailer details the infamous endless territory of the backrooms discovered by one of the movie’s protagonists in an abandoned store. Through the various clips presented, it appears that the main character, Clark, is consistently visiting the backrooms and mapping it out to prove its existence to others. The trailer then progresses to Clark and his friends exploring the backrooms together, attempting to understand the purpose of this strange space. Similar to the original urban legend, the movie also appears to incorporate strange entities and phenomena, such as walls closing in and unknown figures, adding distress and horror elements to the film.
“Backrooms” is being produced by multiple film companies, including A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment, and 21 Laps Entertainment. The film is written by Will Soodik and Kane Parsons, who is also the director. Parsons is currently being praised for his experience in the storytelling of the backrooms universe, in which he is known for popularizing the concept from his found-footage series on YouTube that he started in 2022. Parsons is also A24’s youngest director in history, and signed the deal to direct the movie at only 17-years-old.
Additionally, the film is also being applauded for including non-mainstream actors and actresses. Clark, the main protagonist of this film, will be played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, along with the other lead characters, whose names are unknown, played by Mark Duplass, Lukita Maxwell, and Renate Reinsve.
If you’re willing to journey into an abnormal and mind-bending experience, make sure to save the date: “Backrooms” will be released in theaters on May 29, 2026.
