What to know about horror film 'Backrooms' after record-breaking opening weekend
"Backrooms," the psychological horror film from 20-year-old director Kane Parsons, has marked a new bright spot for the horror genre.
The film, which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, and more, debuted May 29 and brought in more than $81 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, off a $10 million budget, according to The Numbers, a film industry data site that tracks box office revenue.
"Backrooms" not only routed at the box office but made history in the process, with Parsons becoming the youngest director to helm a No. 1 box office film globally, A24 confirmed to ABC News this week.
The film is also the largest original horror debut in history, according to the studio.
The film's success marks the latest win for the horror genre in recent years, starting with outsized performances by director Jordan Peele's films "Get Out" (2017), "Us" (2019) and the critically lauded "Nope" (2022).
Ryan Coogler's 2025 film "Sinners" racked up more than $370 million at the global box office last year, according to The Numbers, and was nominated for 16 Oscars, winning four. "Weapons," from director Zach Cregger, also debuted in 2025 to a tune of more than $270 million at the global box office, per The Numbers, earning its own Oscar and critical acclaim.
More recently, "Obsession," a horror film starring Inde Navarrette that debuted earlier this month, has brought in more than $104 million in the weeks since its May 15 theatrical premiere, according to The Numbers.
Read on for more details about "Backrooms" following its box office-smashing opening weekend.
What is 'Backrooms' about?
According to a brief synopsis from A24, "Backrooms" centers around a "strange doorway" that "appears in the basement of a furniture showroom" one day.
A trailer for the film shows Ejiofor's character Clark, the furniture store owner, discovering the doorway before ending up in a large, dimly lit room with nothing but furniture piled up at the center and various voices speaking foreign languages over a fuzzy loudspeaker.
He later explains his confusion to his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline, played by Reinsve, before the trailer returns to the mysterious space, with Clark now exploring with some company.
The trailer concludes with Reinsve entering the space as well.
"Backrooms" was written by Will Soodik and was produced by horror filmmakers James Wan and Osgood Perkins, "Arrival" producer Shawn Levy, and more.
Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell also star in the film.
Who is the 'Backrooms' director?
"Backrooms" is the debut film from director Parsons, who came to prominence via a series of wildly popular YouTube videos exploring a similar premise, most of the videos garnering millions of views apiece.
His most popular video, simply titled "The Backrooms (Found Footage)," has accumulated more than 81 million views and counting since it was shared on Jan. 7, 2022.
"There's a lot of simplicity in the setup that preys on the anxiety people have around the stage of industrialization we're at," Parsons told the New York Times, speaking about the film's minimalist concept in an interview published May 29.
"The world is becoming increasingly atomized and sort of lonely," he continued. "We have so much available to us now -- at least in this part of the world -- yet it feels like all the stuff we have means less and less."
In addition to "Backrooms," Parsons is also the creator of the mystery thriller web series "The Oldest View"
