A24’s The Backrooms is a hard-R psychological nightmare that earns its rating through relentless existential dread, visceral intensity, and a level of sophistication the original internet lore only hinted at. If your kid has spent the last few years obsessed with yellow wallpaper and fluorescent lights on YouTube, they need to know: this isn't the "creepy mascot" version of the story found on Roblox.
TL;DR
A24’s The Backrooms takes the viral creepypasta and turns it into a high-intensity R-rated horror film. While younger fans might be familiar with the "no-clipping" lore from Kane Pixels on YouTube or various Roblox games, this version is built for adults, featuring heavy psychological distress and visceral scares. It’s a masterclass in tension, but it’s a massive step up in maturity from the source material.
The transition from a 2019 4chan post to a major A24 theatrical release is one of the wildest trajectories in modern media. What started as a single image of an "unsettlingly empty office space" evolved into a massive, crowdsourced mythos about an endless, non-linear maze outside of reality.
Director Kane Parsons (the teenager behind the Kane Pixels YouTube channel) has maintained the "found footage" aesthetic that made his shorts viral, but with an A24 budget, the scale is massive. This isn't just a kid with a camera in a basement anymore; it’s a fully realized, decaying industrial hellscape. The movie leans heavily into the "Async Foundation" lore—a 1980s research group that accidentally opened a portal to this "liminal space"—giving the whole thing a gritty, retro-scientific vibe that feels like Severance met a slasher movie.
If your kid is asking to see this because they "already know the Backrooms," you should know that the R rating isn't just for a few stray F-bombs. A24 has a reputation for "elevated horror" (think Talk to Me or Hereditary), and they’ve applied that same pressure-cooker intensity here.
The horror in the movie is twofold:
- Visceral Intensity: While the YouTube series relied on the suggestion of monsters, the film features "The Entities" in much more graphic, disturbing detail. The sound design alone is designed to be physically uncomfortable.
- Existential Dread: This is the big one. The movie spends a lot of time on the psychological breakdown of people trapped in an infinite, unchanging space. It’s heavy, hopeless, and deeply unsettling in a way that "jump scare" horror isn't. It deals with themes of isolation and the loss of reality that might land much harder on a teenager than a pixelated monster chase on a screen.
Why are kids so obsessed with this? It’s all about "liminal spaces"—places that feel "off" because they are transitional (empty malls, school hallways at night, deserted airports). There is a genuine artistic movement here that many kids find fascinating. They aren't just looking for scares; they’re interested in the vibe.
If you have a kid who is into the aesthetic but isn't ready for a hard-R horror experience, you can point them toward the "liminal" concept in other, more manageable ways. It’s a great jumping-off point for talking about photography, architecture, and how lighting changes our emotional response to a room.
If your kid is drawn to the "weird world-building" of the Backrooms but the R-rated movie is a bridge too far, there are other ways to scratch that itch:
This is the "art house" version of the Backrooms vibe. It’s rated PG-13 and is almost entirely atmosphere. It’s polarizing—some kids will find it boring, others will find it the scariest thing they’ve ever seen—but it’s a great example of how to build dread without graphic violence.
For younger kids who love the "hidden lore" and "secret foundations" aspect of the Backrooms, this is the gold standard. It’s funny, smart, and rewards the kind of frame-by-frame analysis that Backrooms fans love.
If they want to experience the weirdness, this puzzle game is the move. It plays with perspective and "impossible" spaces in a way that feels exactly like the Backrooms lore but without the terrifying monsters. It’s a brilliant piece of game design that rewards "out of the box" thinking.
The biggest friction point with this movie is the expectation gap. Because the "Backrooms" started as a kid-friendly internet meme, many 10-to-12-year-olds feel a sense of ownership over it. They feel like they "grew up" with it.
The move here is to acknowledge that they know the lore while being clear that A24 has built an adult experience on top of it. If you decide to let an older teen watch it, watch it with them. The movie’s ending is intentionally ambiguous and bleak—it’s the kind of thing that actually benefits from a "what just happened?" conversation afterward.
Q: Is The Backrooms movie okay for a 12-year-old? It’s a hard R for a reason. While many 12-year-olds know the lore from YouTube, the movie’s intensity and psychological weight are significantly higher. Most kids this age will find the "entities" and the sense of isolation much more disturbing than the Roblox versions they’ve played.
Q: How much gore is in the A24 Backrooms movie? It’s not a "slasher" in the traditional sense, but when the violence hits, it’s visceral and realistic. The movie relies more on "body horror" and the disturbing appearance of the entities than on wall-to-wall blood, but it definitely earns its R rating.
Q: Do you need to watch the YouTube series before seeing the movie? No. The movie functions as a standalone origin story for the Async Foundation and the discovery of "The Complex." Knowing the lore adds some "Easter egg" value, but the film explains the mechanics of the world clearly for newcomers.
Q: Is it better than the YouTube version? It’s different. The YouTube series is a brilliant example of lo-fi indie storytelling. The movie is a polished, high-budget psychological thriller. Both have their merits, but the movie is much more "taxing" to watch.
A24’s The Backrooms is a rare case of internet culture being treated with real cinematic respect. It’s a intense, well-crafted horror film that will likely define the "liminal horror" genre for years. Just don't let the "internet meme" origins fool you—this is a grown-up movie that demands an intentional choice from parents.
- Check out our best movies for kids list for age-appropriate horror and mystery alternatives.
- If your kid is obsessed with the lore, read our guide to Roblox to see how they're likely interacting with the Backrooms in game form.
- Ask our chatbot for more horror recs
based on your kid's specific maturity level.