On June 12, 2002, at 807 Oregon Street, an anonymous 4Chan user took a photo in the back room of a HobbyTown retail store in Oshkosh, WI. At the time, it seemed just to be a progress photo with no real substance.
What the photographer could not have known is that this picture would cause a chain reaction, with a film produced by A24 set to be released May 24, 2026 – and a few OH students are here for it.
“I was one of the people who were very interested in the concept of liminal spaces when the original post became more mainstream,” said senior Ava DeSanto.
It took nearly two decades for the image to resurface. On May 12, 2019, someone posted on 4Chan’s paranormal board requesting “disquieting images that just feel off.” A user named Black August posted the image along with a paragraph of strange ramblings.
The true definition of what The Backrooms encapsulates is different across the community, but there are two widely accepted definitions. The first was spawned two months after the image was uploaded to 4Chan, consisting of thousands of levels and various entities. Despite the amount of content, The Backrooms stayed underground for many years.
“I prefer the minimalist psychological horror version, with the endless liminal spaces and entities,” said OH senior Jack Fiore.
The second, more mainstream version, upon which the film will be based, comes via indie filmmaker Kane Parsons (KanePixels). It sets itself apart from the Wiki by having only a few settings.
The original image, titled “The Complex” by Parsons, is featured prominently, with appearances from other locations few and far between.
These videos skyrocketed the popularity of The Backrooms. Riding the wave of the online “analog horror” movement, the unsettling feeling of empty, transitional spaces combined with shockingly high-quality videos from Parsons led to a massive influx of attention.
“So, KanePixel’s series is basically… He was the one who basically got the jump start. It was around for a while, but then KanePixel really launched it, and his interpretation of the backrooms is pretty much stellar,” said senior Dylan Matea.
Despite its popularity, The Backrooms was still only a YouTube series. At the end of the day, the boundaries it could push were limited by the confines of the website.
That was until, in Feb., 2023, it was announced that A24 (behind films such as “Marty Supreme,” “Midsommar,” “Hereditary,” and many more) would be financing a theatrical The Backrooms movie with Parsons, only 17 at the time, helming it as the director.
“I hope [the movie] plays more into this uncertainty than other adaptations. It’s incorrect to assume a character knows what type of story they’ve been written into,” said DeSanto.
This is a groundbreaking moment for independent filmmakers. Never before had there been such a process of starting with a short film, then maintaining creative control when it gets picked up by a studio. Not since Damien Chazelle’s “Whiplash” has something even similar taken place.
“I personally like the interpretations of the backrooms just being the concept of nonexistence, accessed by ‘clipping’ through nothing at all,” said DeSanto. “The Backrooms are interesting as the border of our universe.”
Whether viewers like the original mono-yellow madness or the vast liminal spaces, all fans alike hope to see this indie piece of liminal horror come to life on the big screen.
My name is Pierre Vargas, I am a senior at OHS and this is my first year as a journalist and go by any pronouns. I am an artist, I particularly enjoy drawing cartoons, and I participate in art club and independently. You can email me through 42fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. Feedback regarding our publications are encouraged!!
