Backrooms 2: Everything We Know So Far

In the A24 sci-fi horror hit "Backrooms," in which furniture store owner Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers a sickly yellow never-ending complex existing outside of our reality via a portal in his shop's basement, the titular liminal space has apparently started creeping into the real world. There are odd switches within Clark's breaker box that don't make any sense, which suggests that the Backrooms are somehow expanding into actual reality. In that same vein, Backrooms as a horror franchise seems like it will also continually expand and take over everything in pop culture if the runaway success of the first film is any indication. 

"Backrooms" made a whopping $118 million worldwide in its opening weekend against a budget of less than $10 million. That's the largest opening for an original horror movie ever. It's on course to become one of the biggest A24 movies yet, and the studio is eager to keep the good times rolling: Shortly after "Backrooms" dropped to huge numbers, it was revealed that a sequel is in early development. It could take director Kane Parsons some time to get "Backrooms 2" off the ground, but, ideally, it'll come out sooner rather than later to strike while the iron is still hot. Here's what we know about "Backrooms 2" so far.

"Backrooms" doesn't have a post-credits scene, but the film does suggest there's a lot more to this world to explore. When Clark's therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve), who follows him into the Backrooms, manages to escape from Clark and then the pirate-themed Captain Clark Still Life (played by Robert Bobroczkyi, who looks very different in real life), she gets rescued by Async. It's revealed that this organization used to make MRI machines but now investigate the Backrooms, and employee Phil (Mark Duplass) is cagey about whether or not Mary will be permitted to leave once the interview is over. As such, Mary's inclusion in the sequel is up in the air, but Phil also mentions something interesting during this chat: He says that doorways to the Backrooms have started popping up more frequently.

Presumably, these would be similar doorways to what's in Clark's furniture store's basement where someone can enter and exit the Backrooms at will, provided they don't get lost. With more doorways appearing everywhere, it's possible "Backrooms 2" could begin a more anthology-style franchise. We could follow completely different characters who no-clip into the Backrooms via different entry points. These doorways don't even need to be localized to existing structures, as they can appear anywhere. That means someone could be walking down the street and enter the Backrooms or even fall through the floor into one, which is something we've seen before in Kane Parsons' "Backrooms" web series.

There are a lot of possibilities with an anthology style approach, and given Kane Parsons' background making "Backrooms" videos online, he's the perfect guy to come up with the next terrifying tale. He clearly understands the appeal of this idea, which originated with a 2019 4chan post about a series of bizarre-looking walls and how people can become trapped within this labyrinth. However, many may not have realized that Parsons didn't actually write the script for the "Backrooms" movie. That duty went to Will Soodik, who's previously written for TV shows like "Westworld" and "Ash vs Evil Dead."

It's likely Parsons contributed something to the basic idea and helped lay the foundation for how the Backrooms would be presented on the big screen, but for "Backrooms 2," Parsons should receive a proper writing credit. The initial sequel announcement suggested that Parsons was looking for a screenwriting partner to help him flesh out the story. Soodik did a great job for "Backrooms" given the widespread critical acclaim of the film, so he's probably in the frame. But maybe in keeping with the eclectic nature of the Backrooms, Parsons simply wants a different perspective to see what someone else can do with this idea.

Cinematic universes are all the rage now. It's not enough for an intellectual property to have a presence in movie theaters — they have to expand into TV series, too, as we've witnessed with Marvel and Star Wars. By doing this, you run the risk of oversaturating the market, but there's a chance a Backrooms franchise could work well in different mediums. 

While another "Backrooms" movie is on the way, Kane Parsons doesn't want to abandon the work he's done on YouTube just yet. He told Variety, "I don't want to leave YouTube behind. I immensely enjoy the work I've done there, and I feel creatively fulfilled by it in a way that's proportional to what I've done with this film. I personally think there's merits, because there's a lot of projects that I just could never do outside of YouTube, or outside of a more free-form internet multimedia container."

A Backrooms film is a great way to draw in casual audiences who may not be familiar with this concept from the YouTube videos. If they become fans, they may be more likely to check out Parsons' other work online. The two share a common mythology, and Parsons could continue making Backrooms shorts that exist outside of the realm of corporate mandates. Even if it takes a few years to get "Backrooms 2," some shorts in the meantime would be a great way to keep fans happy. 

The thing that's made the concept of the Backrooms so enticing online is that so many have contributed to its mythos. Kane Parsons' YouTube videos are the gold standard that many would consider canon, but there are lots of other levels and monsters people have come up with to occupy the Backrooms. As an endless series of office spaces, literally anything could be in there. Fortunately, Parsons doesn't seem interested in getting too bogged down in the finer details.

While speaking with The Playlist, Parsons mentioned something that should put fans at ease when it comes to a sequel. "Some projects have trouble with lore bloat, or whatever you want to call it, where, in trying to adapt something that has a lot of rich online history and a long legacy of traction, it tries to cram too much in," he said. "So I think it was just making sure that we were focusing on the most fundamental elements. Not simple, exactly, but there was something simple about the original post, and people responded to something simple in the original short film as well."

A sequel could obviously expand upon what was presented in the first film, but it doesn't sound like Parsons wants to dive too deep. When Phil speaks to Mary during the ending of "Backrooms," even he says that Async barely knows anything about the place. It leaves the door open to have some surprising twists in future installments where the audience learns what this liminal space is about right alongside the characters. There were some confusing moments in "Backrooms," but by keeping things as simple as possible, Parsons can avoid too much nonsense in future installments.

Even though we couldn't possibly begin to guess the specifics of the plot of "Backrooms 2," it's safe to say that someone will no-clip into the Backrooms and they'll get stuck in there. It's possible they'll become obsessed with the Backrooms like Clark, but that would run the risk of treading the same ground. Honestly, that's all a Backrooms movie needs — A character confronting the idea they're trapped in a never-ending series of sickly yellow rooms. That's where the real horror lies. 

Parsons has already shown how that idea can avoid getting repetitive with his Backrooms YouTube videos. For example, the "Backrooms" movie incorporated the idea of Still Lifes, the failed replicas of humans who populate the Backrooms. There are obviously details askew, like far too many facial features, but these beings are still recognizable as human. Parsons has introduced other entities in his YouTube series, notably something called the Bacteria. 

This creature is completely inhuman and consists of long, stringy limbs. It's possible that the Backrooms, in its attempt to remember humans, forgets details until its creations are nothing but monstrous stick figures roaming around. That's merely one of many ideas "Backrooms 2" could implement, or maybe Parsons will hit us with something completely new and different to take us by surprise. In the meantime, there are plenty of other movies and TV shows based on creepypasta to hold you over until "Backrooms 2" comes out.