Everyone knew Kane Parsons' YouTube series "Behind the Scenes" was just awful? Well, it's May 2026 and I'm just now finding out about this.
I'm a notorious chickenshit here at /Film, so when the editor asked if I'd watch "Backrooms (Found Footage)" and the next few episodes, I knew I was in for a real challenge. I'll put it this way: this YouTube series, created by Parsons (under the pseudonym "Kane Pixels") after he learned of a "creepypasta," or weird internet legend about a series of impossible-to-escape rooms, is pretty well-made for a short film. In fact, Very It's easy to see why this has become so popular.
In fact, the hype surrounding Parsons' original "Behind the Scenes" videos has reached such proportions that if you search YouTube, you'll find set explanations of all the levels of these endless, mysterious rooms that are discovered at the beginning of the video, subtitled "(Found Footage)." (Personally, I think creator Wendigoon has covered this topic particularly well, following up on the original video he made several years ago.)
«"(Found Footage)" is the first video in Parsons' Backrooms YouTube series, which he painstakingly created from 2022 to 2024. Although I definitely I'm afraid to watch a feature-length film that my colleague BJ Colangelo called "a disturbing psychological horror drama based on atmosphere, uncertainty, and the uneasy feeling that reality itself has slipped off its axis," so I agreed to watch a few original videos, and you know what? Now I'm afraid of every empty room.
Read also: 25 Horrible Endings That Ruined Good Horror Movies
The YouTube original series, Backrooms, is characterized by its unique atmosphere and unsettling mood.
Men in hazmat suits in Backrooms videos — Kane Pixels/YouTube
When you sit down and watch Kain Parsons' first YouTube video—again, it's called "Behind the Scenes (Found Footage)"—it seems like it hardly forms a coherent narrative. While filming a short film with two guys who appear to be his friends, an unseen cameraman enters a terrifying liminal space, now known as Backstage, characterized by grimy yellow walls and a seemingly endless labyrinth of rooms. As the cameraman wanders around, screaming for help, he finally spots a creature known to fans as "The Life Form," which pursues him and causes him to fall into yet another layer of the strange liminal space.
Parsons' entire concept for this story is truly brilliant, especially as the series progresses, introducing shadowy forces like the Institute for Asynchronous Research, a portal called "Threshold," and the institute's possible connection to a real-life natural disaster (the 1989 earthquake in California, near Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains). Again, it's very clever. And very scary.
I think the reason I had such a strong and immediate reaction to the creepy atmosphere of the Backrooms video is because Parsons Great has a way of terrifying with silence. Every time the cameraman discovers a new layer or room, you're overcome with dread; in the first video, there's a moment when the cameraman contemplates climbing a ladder leading into darkness—I watched it with my hands over my face. Ultimately, all things considered, it's no surprise that Parsons managed to create a fully realized film from the world he helped expand.
Now "Behind the Scenes" has an ambitious film adaptation.
Clarke Looks Scared in 'Behind the Scenes' - A24
So it all comes full circle with Behind the Scenes, director Kane Parsons' first feature film, which is finally hitting theaters to give everyone the final scare. (Honestly, the scariest part is to everyone (This is because Parsons was born in 2005.) Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clarke, a furniture store owner who discovers the presence of Backstage in the basement of his shop. Produced by arthouse studio A24, Backstage also stars Oscar nominee Renate Rainswe, Downsizing star Lukita Maxwell, mumblecore king and indie actor Mark Duplass, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms star Finn Bennett. (Bennett played the terrifying Arion Targaryen, who is arguably an even worse Game of Thrones villain than Jack Gleeson's despicable Joffrey Baratheon.)
«"Behind the Scenes" could very well be the summer's surprise box office hit, especially since it will attract the huge audience that has been following Parsons' music videos since 2022. And what about me? Unfortunately, I'm too cowardly to sit in a theater and let this film make me afraid to walk around random corners; perhaps I'll watch it in the light of day, in the privacy of my home, someday. After all, I have great respect for "Behind the Scenes," an ambitious and bold debut film from a young artist whose career is just beginning. Unfortunately, I'm just not brave enough to look his.
The film "Behind the Scenes" is now showing in cinemas.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm. .