‘Backrooms’ is a low-budget, retro aesthetic horror film about labyrinthine spaces that exist beyond reality directed by 20-year-old youtuber and filmmaker Kane Parsons, which has become a box office leader halfway around the world and threatens to conquer it as it reaches the rest of the countries.
The film is number one in 42 countries, from the United States and Canada – where it grossed $81.4 million – to the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Taiwan, Sweden, Mexico – with $6.6 million – Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay and other regions, where it was released last week.
It is now arriving in Spain, Russia and Malta and will be released in Panama, Guyana, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Singapore during the rest of the month.
With the independent and fresh spirit of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999) and also with a terrifying theme, it has become one of the most talked-about films in the specialized media of the year, in search of the keys to bring audiences back to the movie theaters.
The story, starring the award-winning and ubiquitous Renate Reinsve (‘Sentimental Value’) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (’12 Years a Slave’), begins when a strange door appears in the basement of a furniture store. When a therapist’s patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must enter the unknown to try to rescue him.
‘Backrooms’ cost $10 million and has already grossed 10 times its budget
The film is the development of a YouTube series that began as ‘creepypasta’ (short and viral horror stories), created by this very young British-American filmmaker, which had a shooting budget of ten million dollars, a high figure for an independent film in the United States, but far from the more than 100 million that big Hollywood studio films usually cost.
That $10 million has already increased tenfold at the box office. Produced by A24 – specializing in auteur and cult films like ‘Hereditary’ – it has become number one after grossing $118 million in theaters where it has been released, of which $81.4 million came from U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Box Office Mojo data.
In addition, the film has mobilized one of the youngest and most diverse audiences in recent times and has triumphed among younger audiences, with a great reception from audiences under 21 years of age.
It is a psychological horror thriller that turns a viral urban legend – labyrinthine spaces that exist beyond reality or ‘liminal spaces’ – into a cinematic nightmare. The first episode of the series that inspired the film, which premiered on YouTube in 2022, has over 80 million views.
The film recreates an analog VHS horror inspired by the gloomy nostalgia of the 80s-90s, with static electricity noise, yellowish fluorescent lighting, worn wallpaper and an absolute emptiness in architectural spaces.
According to a press release from Elástica, which distributes the film in Spain, reported Agencia EFE, in just three days since its release on May 29, it has already become the fifth highest-grossing title in A24’s history and has broken records as A24’s best-ever premiere in more than 30 countries.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
