Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve Enter Viral Horror ‘The Backrooms’

Renate Reinsve is set to join Chiwetel Ejiofor in The Backrooms, A24’s upcoming sci-fi horror based on the viral found-footage phenomenon that transformed an anonymous internet post into one of the most recognisable creepypasta legends of the digital age. The Norwegian actor, widely acclaimed for her breakout performance in Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, has signed on to star in the film, Deadline has confirmed.

Plot specifics remain closely guarded, but the film draws its inspiration from The Backrooms (Found Footage), a YouTube series created by filmmaker Kane Parsons. The series, which began in 2019 when Parsons was just sixteen, imagines a surreal, seemingly infinite maze of yellowed office space, flickering fluorescent lights and disconcerting ambient hums. The space is said to exist in a dimension adjacent to our own and is populated by vague, often unseen threats. Since its release, the concept has amassed more than 190 million views across platforms and spawned a host of fan adaptations, urban myths and speculative world-building.

Parsons, now 19, will direct the feature, making him the youngest filmmaker to helm a project for A24. His work has been noted for its technical precision, eerie restraint and creative use of lo-fi aesthetics, which he often enhances through visual effects he designs himself.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose credits include 12 Years a Slave, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was previously confirmed as the film’s lead. Reinsve’s casting adds further prestige to the project, marking her latest collaboration with A24 following her appearance in A Different Man, and expanding her genre reach beyond the European arthouse circuit.

The production is backed by a partnership between 21 Laps Entertainment, Atomic Monster, Chernin Entertainment and A24. Producers include Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Dan Levine, Chris Ferguson, James Wan and Michael Clear, with executive production from Judson Scott and Chris White. The project is being co-financed by A24 and The North Road Company.

While casting and story details remain under wraps, the pairing of Ejiofor and Reinsve signals a serious ambition behind what began as an experimental internet short. Whether The Backrooms will maintain the original series’ minimalism or broaden its scope for the feature format is unknown, but A24’s involvement suggests a focus on atmosphere and dread rather than conventional jump scares.

Production is slated to begin this summer. We’ll share more news as it comes.