By: Enar Ahmed
The movie that caught everyone’s eye, Backroom’s was released on May 29, 2026. The director, Kane Parsons, is a 20-year-old self-taught film maker.
He’s known online as Kane Pixels, and on his YouTube channel Kane posts many cinematic analog horror videos. He first gained traction with his Backrooms (found footage) that was an addition to the latest trend of the liminal and eerie monochromatic atmospheric tensions.
Because of these analog horror videos, Parsons developed key skills for cinematography that were visibly displayed in Backrooms. In an interview with CinemaBlend Parsons explained, “Really the process kind of became pretty similar to what I’ve been doing for a long time on YouTube. So, in a lot of ways it’s the exact same process. We were running it through the same VCR and doing all the same distortion techniques for specific moments.”
With Parsons’ understanding and experience with the Backrooms, he took control of the project, giving the crew and cast confidence in the overall film.
The camerawork and lighting played a huge role in implementing and capturing a thrilling yet ominous feeling for the audience. According to IMDb, “Parsons is not just making a film. He is shaping a genre, and he is only just getting started.”
But it wasn’t just the cinematography that caught the audience’s attention, it was also the actors and the psychological display of their performance. Kane Parsons directed his actors to reach a deep emotional intelligence, to encapsulate a specific feeling into the viewers.
The two cast members whose characters stood out as the focus were Chiwetel Ejiofor; who played as Clark and Renate Reinsve; who played as Dr. Mary Kline. Critics believe the acting in Backroom’s is strong and psychologically intriguing.
A handful of people have even voiced their astonishment of the acting in Backrooms, on many social media platforms.
The actors of Backrooms, specifically Chiwetel Ejiofor, have praised the film. Chiwetel Ejiofor expressed the depth and emotionality of the film. He believes the film is about failure, regret, and everything that keeps us dreading the day ahead.
Additionally, lots of behind-the-scenes staff and other actors have talked about their experience filming Backrooms. They specifically mentioned that the set felt immersive, and surreal, almost disorienting. Many of the actors also reported getting lost on set, which added to the anxiety and uneasy feeling they portrayed while acting.
After taking the psychological and visual display of the cinematography and acting into account, we can conclude that Backrooms has impacted and changed the way audiences have mentally viewed filmmaking for the better.
