The new trailer for Backrooms suggests it could actually be the horror film that accurately captures the essence of creepypasta.

      A24 has unveiled the final trailer for Backrooms, and if you haven't been following this release, now is the moment to take notice. The movie hits theaters on May 29, and its backstory is unlike anything else slated for this year. It originated from a single anonymous image shared on a paranormal message board in 2019 and has since evolved into one of the internet's most unsettling urban legends.

      From a 4chan post to an A24 feature film

      A24 / A24

      In 2019, an individual on 4chan’s paranormal board uploaded a photo of a vast, vacant, yellow-lit carpeted room. It was reminiscent of a place you might vaguely recall but couldn’t quite identify, and that discomfort is intentional. These places are referred to as liminal spaces, and the Backrooms became the internet's quintessential representation of the idea.

      The lore is straightforward yet impactful. If you inadvertently “no-clip” out of reality— a term taken from video game glitches where characters pass through solid surfaces— you find yourself in an infinite labyrinth of yellow rooms, damp carpeting, and buzzing fluorescent lights devoid of exits and rationale.

      Kane Parsons

      From that single image, an entire subculture burgeoned on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and Roblox. Dan Erickson, creator of Severance, has acknowledged that the Backrooms inspired elements of the successful Apple TV series.

      Here’s what the new Backrooms trailer discloses

      The latest Backrooms trailer greatly expands the universe. It presents the familiar yellow rooms and fluorescent lights, which are essential, but also introduces the Poolrooms, a fan-favored extension of the Backrooms featuring submerged, tiled areas with haunting, dreamlike illumination.

      The trailer indicates that multiple ordinary individuals enter the Backrooms together for the first time, altering the dynamic significantly compared to Parsons’ YouTube series. There's also a brief, puzzling glimpse of a seagull that has somehow glitched its way in, capturing the absurd and uncanny elements that make the Backrooms mythology so fascinating.

      Backrooms / A24

      The film centers around a mysterious doorway that opens in a furniture store's basement. When a therapist’s patient vanishes into a dimension beyond reality, she must follow him in.

      Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Life of Chuck, Doctor Strange) portrays Clark, the furniture store owner who first encounters the portal. Dr. Mary Kline, the therapist who ventures in after him, is played by Renate Reinsve. The supporting cast features Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell (Shrinking), and Avan Jogia.

      Why horror enthusiasts should take this internet adaptation seriously

      The Backrooms isn't the inaugural internet urban legend to make its way to the big screen. Slender Man had a film released in 2018, and it was largely deemed disappointing. However, the Backrooms seems different, in part because the adapter is the same individual who has already proven his ability to do it justice on a modest budget without studio support.

      Kane Parsons A24

      The film is helmed by Kane Parsons, better known as Kane Pixels online, who transformed a disturbing internet concept into one of YouTube’s most popular horror series.

      Critics who attended the early premiere have expressed their excitement. The film has already been described as “wholly unique and original” and “the best creepypasta adaptation yet.” For a film that hasn’t even premiered yet, this represents an impressive start.