Backrooms is the latest hit of 2026, and it continues two recent trends in the horror genre. 2025 was a great year for horror, and that has carried over to 2026. There have been several indie successes, like Hokum and Obsession, as well as studio hits, like Send Help and Scream 7. Backrooms has joined this group of successful 2026 horror films after its excellent opening weekend.
Directed by Kane Parsons, Backrooms stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a furniture store owner, and his therapist, played by Renate Reinsve, who discover a separate world in his store comprised of seemingly endless rooms. The film is based on a series of internet creepypasta that first started on 4chan. Parsons then started making Backrooms short films on his YouTube channel, Kane Pixels, which went viral.
The film did incredibly well in its opening weekend at the box office, grossing $81 million domestically and $118 million worldwide, making it the biggest opening for A24. With a reported production budget of “$10 million,” per Variety, Backrooms is already profitable, and it will be interesting to see just how much it can make before the end of its theatrical run.
It’s also an impressive debut feature for Parsons, who is the latest YouTuber to make a feature-length horror film that receives a theatrical release. A few of the YouTuber-directed horror films have performed well at the box office, establishing a trend for the genre. Backrooms continues this trend, as well as another trend, which includes several 2026 horror films receiving positive reviews from critics.
Backrooms Is Another Hit Horror Film Directed By A YouTuber
Horror is seeing many recent hits coming from the minds of YouTubers. Backrooms is just the latest example of a successful horror filmmaker who previously created videos for YouTube. One of the earliest examples of this was David F. Sandberg, who made animated and horror short films for his YouTube channel. One of his shorts, Lights Out, was turned into a feature-length film, and was released in 2016. The film was a box office success, earning over $149.4 million worldwide on a nearly $5 million budget.
Another example is 2022’s Talk to Me. The supernatural thriller was directed by the Philippou Brothers, Danny and Michael, who made videos on their channel, RackaRacka. Talk to Me was a hit, grossing over $91.9 million worldwide on a $4.25 million production budget. While their follow-up film, 2025’s Bring Her Back, wasn’t as big of a box office hit, it was still a hit with critics. YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann also made his directorial debut in 2025 with Shelby Oaks, which made $8.1 million worlwide on a $1.4 million budget, according to IMDb.
2026 has had two other horror hits directed by YouTubers, including Iron Lung and Obsession. Iron Lung was directed by Markiplier, who funded the movie himself. With a $3 million budget, the film was quite profitable, earning over $51.2 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, has been a box office sensation. The film was made for a budget between $750-000-$1 million, and has earned over $150.5 million worldwide.
Backrooms Is Another 2026 Horror Film To Be Well-Received By Critics
While not every horror film of 2026 has been a critical darling, there have been many that received positive reviews. A few of these include Obsession, which received a 96% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which earned a 92%, and Sam Raimi’s Send Help, which also received a 92%. Other horror films that earned high RT critic scores are Hokum (89%), We Bury the Dead (88%), Primate (78%), and Undertone (74%).
Backrooms also received positive reviews, earning an 89% RT critic score, continuing this trend of well-received horror movies in 2026. Many horror movies, like the Parsons-directed film, are being brought to life by unique and visionary filmmakers, and critics are seemingly enjoying the diverse range of films that the genre is producing. Backrooms is another commercial and critical success in horror, and has a chance to increase its box office even more over the next few weeks.
- Release Date
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May 27, 2026
- Runtime
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110 minutes
- Director
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Kane Parsons
- Writers
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Will Soodik
- Producers
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Chris Ferguson, Dan Cohen, Dan Levine, James Wan, Jenno Topping, Kori Adelson, Michael Clear, Osgood Perkins, Peter Chernin, Roberto Patino, Shawn Levy