Bill Dubiel is a veteran writer, editor, and university professor based in Buffalo, New York. He has been a senior writer at Screen Rant since 2023. You can usually find him in a late night double feature including the latest horror film and the latest Oscar bait.
Production company A24 has produced captivating films in a variety of genres, but many would argue that the best of its filmography still lies in horror. One of the biggest additions to this portfolio is the haunting sci-fi horror experience. Behind the sceneswhich I just received its first trailer and is scheduled for a May 2026 release date.
Behind the scenes is based on a viral 4chan creepypasta, which describes a fictional location known as The Backrooms, a seemingly endless maze of empty rooms that exist outside of our own dimension. Accessible only by exiting our reality, The Backrooms concept has evolved over time to include different levels and even some monstrous entities that inhabit the space.
The emptiness and endless nature of the rooms are the main source of creepypasta’s dread, and to fully capture it requires keen vision. A24 went straight to the source of The Backrooms to find such a vision: the Internet. Behind the scenes is directed by Kane Parsons, a 20-year-old British-American filmmaker, and he is the latest in an ever-growing line of talented horror directors who share a common trait.
Up-and-coming Backrooms director got his start on YouTube
Kane Parsons is better known by his YouTube name, Kane Pixels, and Behind the scenes is his first feature film as director after making his debut on YouTube. Parsons took The Backrooms concept to new heights in 2022 when he produced the viral short film Behind the scenes (found footage)which spawned a whole series of related short films exploring The Backrooms.
Parsons’ viral web series led directly to him directing A24’s feature film version and is the company’s youngest director considering he was only 17 when he signed on to direct. Behind the scenes will be a significant step forward, as Parsons moves from self-taught animation and visual effects to directing Oscar nominees in Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 years a slave) and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental value).
Parsons is the latest new director to burst onto the scene after first showing off his talent on YouTube, following in the footsteps of the minds behind some of today’s best horror filmmakers. Before moving the Evil death And Stranger franchises into the future, Fede Álvarez started as a viral YouTuber, much like the Philippou brothers behind the heartbreaking explorations of grief, Talk to me And Bring her back.
Horror audiences are rewarded by first-time directors like Kane Parsons
Thanks to the relatively low costs of the average horror film, there are fewer barriers to entry for aspiring filmmakers. As a result, horror fans have been rewarded with new voices and visions seemingly every month.
Horror icon Sam Raimi (Send help) was in a box office fight with YouTuber Markiplier’s self-financed and produced horror epic Iron lung last month, while filmmaker Ian Tuason hits theaters in just two weeks with his searing debut feature Low voice. Elsewhere, another YouTuber like Kane Parsons, Curry Barker, is making waves with the early hype surrounding his film. Obsessionwhile Adrian Chiarella will make his film debut in 2026 with the Australian horror film Leviticus after causing a sensation at Sundance.
Some of the best horror films of each year are original visions (and usually entirely original stories) from first-time filmmakers, which is a big part of why we’re in the middle of a new golden age of horror in Hollywood. Audiences looking for new scares and new concepts are never disappointed, which is why films like Low voice And Behind the scenes there is so much hype around them.
- Release date
- May 29, 2026
- Director
- Kane Parsons
- Writers
- Roberto Patino
- Producers
- Shawn Levy, Christopher White, Dan Levine, James WanDan Cohen, Michael Clear
