Hollywood loves a good David and Goliath story, but rarely does David show up with a YouTube channel and a laptop. This Memorial Day weekend, two films from Gen Z filmmakers who cut their teeth on internet horror didn't just compete with the establishment - they demolished it.
The Backrooms, directed by Kane Parsons, opened to a staggering $81.5 million domestically ($118 million worldwide), setting a new record for A24. At 20 years old, Parsons becomes the youngest director ever to debut at number one at the box office. Let that sink in: A filmmaker who's still too young to rent a car just beat Star Wars.
Meanwhile, Obsession from Focus Features accomplished something even more remarkable in its third weekend: it increased its box office take, becoming the first film since Steven Spielberg's E.T. to achieve this feat. The film, based on a viral internet concept, has now become Focus Features' highest-grossing domestic release ever.
The conventional wisdom in Hollywood has been that Gen Z doesn't go to theaters. That they're too glued to TikTok and YouTube to appreciate cinema. This weekend proved that narrative catastrophically wrong. Gen Z does go to theaters - they just don't want your $200 million franchise retreads.
Parsons started making Backrooms videos on YouTube in 2022, tapping into internet creepypasta lore about infinite yellow hallways and existential dread. His shorts went viral, racking up millions of views from viewers who appreciated his slow-burn approach to horror - all liminal spaces and mounting unease rather than jump scares. When A24 came calling, they had the good sense to let him make the movie he wanted to make.
The same goes for Obsession, which originated from similar internet horror roots. Both films cost a fraction of what studios typically spend on wide releases, yet they're connecting with audiences in ways that focus-grouped blockbusters can't seem to manage anymore.
What's fascinating isn't just that these films succeeded - it's how they succeeded. Word of mouth has been explosive. Social media is flooded with fans dissecting theories, sharing their favorite moments, creating memes. This is organic marketing that money can't buy, driven by audiences who feel ownership over properties they discovered online before Hollywood got involved.
Meanwhile, The Mandalorian and Grogu - the Disney juggernaut that was supposed to dominate the summer - is performing respectably but hardly setting the world on fire. It's the Solo problem all over again: Just because something carries the Star Wars name doesn't mean audiences will automatically show up, especially when it feels like homework from a streaming series they may or may not have watched.
The industry needs to pay attention to what's happening here. This isn't a fluke. Young filmmakers who understand internet culture, who know how to build communities online, who aren't afraid to embrace weird and unsettling concepts - they're not the future of cinema. They're the present. And they're eating the establishment's lunch.
Mark Duplass, who stars in The Backrooms, told reporters this weekend that these films offer "a glimmer of hope" in a "fractured" industry. He's right. At a time when streaming has gutted the theatrical experience and studios play it safer than ever, these films prove there's still appetite for original, risky storytelling - as long as it's actually good.
In Hollywood, nobody knows anything - except me, occasionally. And here's what I know: The guard is changing. The filmmakers who grew up on YouTube and understand how to speak to their generation's anxieties aren't knocking on the door anymore. They just kicked it down.
