Loved Backrooms? These 6 movies use real-world sets and clever camerawork to create similar eerie atmosphere

If your Instagram or YouTube feed has been filled with eerie yellow hallways, endless empty rooms and people talking about "liminal spaces", then you have probably heard of Backrooms. What started as a creepy internet phenomenon has now become one of the biggest horror success stories of 2026.

Well, just weeks after the 26-year-old YouTube Curry Barker stunned Hollywood with Obsession, another young creator has made history. And this time, it's the 20-year-old YouTuber-turned-director Kane Parsons, whose sci-fi horror film Backrooms has become a massive box office sensation.


Released by A24 in 3442 locations across the United States and Canada, Backrooms earned an incredible $81.5 million during its opening weekend. The film has already crossed $118 million worldwide, despite not yet releasing in Indian cinemas.

Yes, Backrooms has delivered the biggest opening weekend in A24's 18-year history, crossing all the earlier records held by Alex Garland's 2024 dystopian war thrill Civil War, which debuted with $25.5 million in North America.

According to A24, Parsons is now the youngest director ever to have a No. 1 film globally. At just 20 years old, he beats the previous record held by Josh Trank, who directed Chronicle in 2012 at age 27. That film opened to $22 million.

The movie has also become the biggest debut for an original horror film and the biggest debut for a non-franchise movie, as per Variety.

So, if you are hyped for Backrooms and want more movies that capture the same unsettling, dreamlike feeling, then you must watch these 6 movies that are worth adding to your watchlist.


Imagine house-hunting and accidentally getting trapped in an endless suburban neighbourhood where every street looks exactly the same. That's the nightmare at the centre of Vivarium.

A young couple gets trapped in an endless suburban neighbourhood where every house looks identical. Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots, the film turns the ordinary suburbia into a disturbing nightmare of repetition and isolation.

This is probably the wild-card pick on the list.

Robin Williams stars in this visually bizarre cult film filled with surreal sets, oversized toy-like environments and dreamlike imagery. Its strange production design creates an uncanny atmosphere that liminal-space fans will appreciate.

For fans of liminal spaces, its uncanny visuals are worth experiencing.

If Backrooms made you uncomfortable, Skinamarink might genuinely terrify you.

Made on a tiny $15,000 budget, this horror film follows two children who wake up to find their parents missing and their home transformed. Dark hallways, empty spaces and minimal visuals make it deeply unsettling.


The camera rarely shows faces, instead focusing on ceilings, hallways and dark corners. The results feel like a childhood nightmare you can't wake up from.

Kane Parsons' 46-minute YouTube horror short follows a vlogger exploring an abandoned underground mall. Built using Blender, the film delivers eerie liminal spaces and a terrifying giant puppet creature.

Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut is less traditional horror and more existential nightmare.

A theatre director creates a massive replica of New York City inside a warehouse. As reality and fiction blur, the film becomes a haunting exploration of obsession, morality and self-created worlds.

It's a film about obsession, morality and becoming trapped inside a world you have created yourself.

A filing clerk discovers a portal into actor John Malkovich's mind. With its strange office spaces, surreal concepts, and dreamlike atmosphere, the film feels surprisingly close to modern liminal horror.