Is YouTube the new Hollywood? Backrooms is one of two films made by a Gen-Z YouTuber which hit the big screen in May, and both were smash hits. Some say we’re witnessing a paradigm shift in how cinema is made.
Backrooms: From bedroom to big screen
Back(room) to the future: When teenage filmmaker Kane Parsons uploaded a short VFX video to YouTube in 2022, he transformed the internet’s favourite urban legend into a sprawling, Hollywood-bound sci-fi universe. Glossary
Arthouse - An independent movie made for artistic value rather than commercial profit.
CGI - Computer-generated imagery.
Liminality - The unsettling feeling or state of being in a middle, transitional space, such as an empty hallway, an abandoned mall, or the blurry line between sleep and waking.
Extradimensional - Existing or originating outside our normal three-dimensional reality (length, width, and height), often breaking the laws of physics.
Supernatural - Attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.
Psychological - Relating to the mental state of a person.
Consummate - Showing supreme skill, perfection, or absolute mastery at something (e.g., "a consummate professional" or "a consummate storyteller").
Gen Z - Short for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.