Backrooms: A24's Sci-Fi Horror Movie Debuts To Promising Rotten Tomatoes Score

The age of filmmakers is over; the time of the YouTubers has come. What other conclusion can one reach after what's shaping up to be a one-two punch between recent horror breakout "Obsession" and especially the highly-anticipated "Backrooms"? Both are directed by younger talent who cut their teeth making videos for the world's most popular streaming platform, and both are adding a jolt to moviegoers who've been starving for some fresh and original ideas in the low-budget genre space.

And the results are now speaking for themselves, at least among a very discerning segment of the audience. "Backrooms" was on our radar even before A24 ramped up its marketing campaign for the viral phenomenon, but critics have finally had a chance to check it out and see what all the fuss is about. Director Kane Parsons' feature adaptation of his own web series is bound to draw eyeballs, and the early returns are already extremely promising.

As of the time of publishing, "Backrooms" is currently enjoying a hefty 80% "fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 45 reviews. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark, our entry point into a labyrinthine liminal space of creepy office spaces that shouldn't exist, and Renate Reinsve as his skeptical therapist, the horror film is inspiring a broad consensus of reactions, with most underlining the unsettling visuals, strong performances, and dread-inducing atmosphere that may very well usher in a whole new brand of horror in the years ahead.

Can "Backrooms" follow up an extremely promising Memorial Day weekend at the box office and keep bringing audiences in to theaters? Thanks to early tracking, all signs are pointing towards a surprise box office hit. But it never hurts to have critics adding their voices to the hype and creating even more buzz ahead of the film's debut. BJ Colangelo reviewed "Backrooms" for /Film and praised the effort as "an unnerving psychological horror-drama that thrives on atmosphere, uncertainty, and the queasy feeling that reality itself has quietly slipped off its axis." While a strong showing for a first-time director, she also adds one notable caveat: "As a feature, the story sometimes feels like it's fighting its own destiny, but when 'Backrooms' works, it's an arresting triumph and one of the strongest debut features in years."

Much of the critical response to the film echoes these thoughts. Courtney Howard of Fresh Fiction shines a light on director Kane Parsons' ability to craft "a brilliant, nightmarish vision that's beautifully claustrophobic, pulse-pounding, and freaky AF." Esther Rosenfield of Little White Lies is similarly high on the feature, describing it as "endearingly open-ended and peculiarly captivating." Still, she notes that "'Backrooms' is at its worst when it's trudging through what feels like mandatory dialogue between the two leads." Indeed, the "rotten" reviews so far seem united in highlighting the film's struggle to adapt a web series that's light on narrative into an actual story, so it's worth keeping in mind that not all reviews are in alignment on this one.

Still, we're looking forward to unpacking the maze at the center of "Backrooms" along with a packed crowd, as the film hits theaters on May 29, 2026.