A24's 'Backrooms' horror film debuts in Italy with practical set design

The horror film "Backrooms", directed by Kane Parsons and produced by A24, opened in Italy on 27 May, screening in more than 300 cinemas. Its Italian launch began with a midnight pop‑up showing in Bologna that attracted over 700 viewers.

The movie stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a failed architect who discovers a portal to an endless series of yellow‑walled liminal rooms, and Renate Reinsve as his therapist. Production designer Danny Vermette created the film’s distinctive environment using practical sets across four sound stages, building large expanses of carpet, wallpaper and dropped ceilings to replicate the internet‑born “backrooms” aesthetic in‑camera.

Parsons, known online as Kane Pixels, previously built a following with YouTube shorts and a creepypasta photo that inspired the film. The collaboration with A24 and producer James Wan brings the web legend to a widescreen audience while preserving the original’s unsettling, claustrophobic tone.