The horror films Backrooms and Obsession have achieved record-breaking success after releasing nearly simultaneously, driving a massive wave of young moviegoers to theaters. The dual release demonstrates a major shift in cinema as internet creators move from online video platforms to mainstream feature films.
Backrooms, directed by 16-year-old internet creator Kane Parsons and released by indie studio A24, propelled the distributor to new heights by earning more than $118 million during its opening weekend. The film originated from online creepypasta videos about unsettling, empty liminal spaces that garnered billions of views on the web.
The story of Backrooms follows Clark, a furniture showroom owner who accidentally passes through a wall and becomes trapped in an endless series of office rooms bathed in the yellow light of flickering fluorescent lamps. The distorted architecture, reminiscent of M.C. Escher graphics, creates a maze-like nightmare where characters wander without any visible monsters or clear explanation for the phenomenon.
Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Clark, alongside an experienced cast that includes Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, who plays a psychotherapist testing Clark's experience on herself. The narrative focuses on a small group, including two co-workers caught in the crisis, turning the terrifying yellow corridors into a metaphor for the human subconscious. The film shifts between the yellow mazes, the furniture showroom, and the therapist's office with time jumps that construct the narrative like a puzzle.
Viral origins and psychological terror
The widespread availability of internet video platforms has allowed amateur creators to reach global audiences without traditional industry gatekeepers. While genuine talent can achieve instant global recognition, commentators note that the influx of uncurated online video content has also established simplified video game aesthetics as a cultural norm.
Parsons began crafting videos at age 16, mastering the ability to generate intense horror out of empty environments. His approach draws comparisons to classic directors Alfred Hitchcock and George Cukor, particularly Cukor's 1944 psychological thriller Gaslight, where terror is extracted from minimal atmospheric cues rather than physical monsters.
Film studios and producers seeking a path out of an ongoing industry crisis rushed to work with Parsons after seeing his online success. Popular commentary has labeled Backrooms a psychological labyrinth, noting how it blends traditional movie theater viewing with the interactive feel of a quest video game.
Releasing alongside Backrooms, the horror film Obsession presents an exotic love story centered on a young man named Bear who hesitates to reveal his feelings for a woman named Nikki. After purchasing a magic wand capable of granting any wish, Bear asks for Nikki to love him above all else. The wish backfires when an obsessed Nikki transforms into a monster prepared to kill any potential rivals.
Obsession was directed by 25-year-old social media creator Curry Barker. Following the surge of Generation Z viewers attending screenings of Obsession, Barker secured major Hollywood contracts, including a deal with studio A24 to reboot The Texas Chain Saw Massacre franchise and additional directing projects for Universal Pictures.
The Gen Z box office boom
Industry attendance figures show that younger viewers are driving the commercial success of these new horror releases. Almost 85 percent of ticket buyers for these films are under 35 years old, with viewers between 18 and 24 years old accounting for 43 percent of total attendance.
This audience has grown up playing popular sandbox video games such as Minecraft and Roblox, shaping their visual preferences and expectations for cinematic storytelling. Their familiarity with open-world exploration and liminal environments makes the game-like structure of modern horror films feel natural to them.
Before directing Obsession, Barker created the low-budget online film Milk and Serial, which was produced for just $800 yet accumulated millions of views. His rapid transition to studio-backed feature films highlights how quickly online creators can scale their projects for mainstream audiences.
The rise of Parsons and Barker reflects a broader movement in the 2020s, where internet personalities cross over into feature filmmaking. Australian blogging duo Danny and Michael Philippou directed Talk to Me, a $4.5 million horror film that earned over $90 million worldwide and achieved a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Similarly, online personality Mark Fischbach produced, directed, wrote, and starred in an adaptation of the indie game Iron Lung.
A shift in Hollywood storytelling
While isolated online viral hits have occurred before, such as the 1999 found-footage landmark The Blair Witch Project or the Japanese horror film Exit 8 adapted from a subway-based video game, the current influx of online creators represents a wider trend. The technique of wandering through liminal spaces has evolved from a rare experiment into a widespread phenomenon.
This audience shift unfolds against a backdrop of crisis within traditional filmmaking, where legacy studios display signs of creative fatigue. Audiences have grown accustomed to treating films as secondary background entertainment, while historic attempts to replace artistic skill with technical gimmicks, such as the Danish Dogme 95 movement, have faded from memory.
Critics note that Backrooms and similar releases function almost as interactive quests rather than conventional dramas. The camera perspective mirrors first-person gameplay, substituting traditional character psychology with quick reactions and atmospheric suspense. In this emerging format, game design logic replaces traditional screenwriting, reducing direction to a series of visceral emotional triggers.
The new style of filmmaking contrasts with classical traditions that relied on legendary stars such as Ingrid Bergman or acting frameworks like the Stanislavski system. In Obsession, performances lean into an amateur style, while in Backrooms, Ejiofor appears engaged in his role whereas Reinsve simulates horror without appearing to fully buy into the absurd circumstances. Instead of complex character psychology, these films focus on immediate physical states such as terror, passion, and loss of self.
Hollywood producers are increasingly turning to viral online video creators rather than traditional film school graduates when seeking commercial projects. While some observers view this shift as an apocalypse for traditional artistic standards, others compare it to the historical introduction of synchronized sound in cinema, which replaced silent film with a dynamic new art form.
