Backrooms (web series)

Set primarily in the 1990s, the series revolves around the Async Research Institute, a fictional research institute that discovers the Backrooms (in-universe referred to as “the Complex”) and attempts to study and document it. Following this discovery, missing person cases begin to skyrocket as people are pulled into the Complex in places far outside of Async's facility. Most installments are centered around various anomalies Async comes across in the Complex, while the installments titled "Found Footage" are from the perspective of citizens finding their way into the Complex on their own. ==Development and themes==

After making several Attack on Titan themed videos, Parsons was looking for "new things to do". He was in between projects and was inspired to create a found-footage style animation of the Backrooms after rediscovering a render he had saved some time prior. Parsons was vaguely aware of the Backrooms in terms of the original image and caption he had seen on Instagram two years prior. However, he was not aware of the community behind it. In an interview, he stated: "I came across the original image on my computer... and I just thought, huh, it would be interesting to see if I could go to my 3D software, Blender, and try to recreate a scene in this environment." He used Blender to create a test animation of a chair in the Backrooms being thrown and hitting a wall. The shot would later be used in the first video of the series. Parsons would use Adobe After Effects alongside Blender to create the first video; it took Parsons a month to complete the short. Parsons would expand the concept into a series shortly after posting the first video. The series establishes plot points such as Async, a fictional research facility that discovers the Backrooms in the late 1980s and conducts active research in it throughout the series. Various character animations included in these later installments would require the utilization of motion capture suits. In an interview with ABC News, Parsons described the series as "a slow burn story focusing on both the politics of Async and the United States government, as well as the otherworldly, confusing functions of The Complex, or The Backrooms." Parsons credits the Internet aesthetic of liminal spaces as an influence for his series. In an interview with Vice, Parsons described the Backrooms as a manifestation of poorly remembered noncommittal memories, like old family photos from the 1990s and 2000s: "The flash is always on, the lighting is gross looking, there's yellow walls, the white balance is all off." ==Reception==

Reception for the series has been mostly positive. The first video of the series received positive reviews from critics. WPST called it "the scariest video on the Internet". Otaku USA categorized it as analog horror, while Dread Central and Nerdist compared it favorably to the 2019 video game Control. Kotaku praised the series for exercising restraint in its horror and mystery. Boing Boings Rob Beschizza predicted that the Backrooms, like the creepypasta Slender Man and its panned 2018 film adaptation, would eventually be adapted into a "slick but dismal 2-hour Hollywood movie." Writing for Bloody Disgusting, critic Luis H.C. interpreted the web series as being indirectly inspired by the novel House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, writing that the videos "perfectly capture the book's liminal atmosphere by adapting ideas that have permeated popular culture in the two decades since House of Leaves was published". Parsons said he had "no idea" there had been an existing fan community behind the original Backrooms legend, and recalled being surprised to see comments on his first video from people saying "You're doing the Backrooms wrong. What is this?" or "There's supposed to be smilers on level one." He said that this continued until eventually "people almost forgot about the old one" and his version had "sort of been adopted" by fans. The series' installments have garnered a collective total of over 197 million views. ==Episodes==

Episodes are presented in original upload order. ==Film adaptation==

After publishing The Backrooms (Found Footage), Parsons was approached by several studios for a feature-length adaptation. He initially pitched the idea as a comic serialization as opposed to a feature-length film. In February 2023, A24, who successfully bid on the film, announced that work had begun on a film adaptation of The Backrooms based on Parsons' videos, with Parsons directing. Roberto Patino is set to write the screenplay, while James Wan and Michael Clear through Atomic Monster; Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine through 21 Laps Entertainment; and Peter Chernin through Chernin Entertainment are set to produce. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve star in the film, with principal photography having started in the summer of 2025, and concluding in August 2025. The film is slated to release in the United States on May 29, 2026. ==See also==