Backrooms Movie Splits the Internet: Deep Praise for Its Design, Fury Over Copyright Strikes

The release of the Backrooms movie sent fans into a frenzy — but not all in the same direction. One half of the conversation is a deep, analytical dive into the film’s haunting production design and its exploration of memory and isolation. The other is a boiling cauldron of anger, directed squarely at studio A24 for a wave of copyright strikes against fan-made Backrooms content. The result is a uniquely divided discourse, where celebration of cinematic craft exists side-by-side with accusations of corporate overreach.

The Praise: A Haunting, Layered Film That Has Fans Theorizing

For a significant portion of the audience, the film is a triumph of atmosphere and intellect. Viewers aren't just watching — they're connecting psychological dots and marveling at the physical scale of the production.

One fan was struck by the meticulous foreshadowing in the film’s visual language, writing, “What a foreshadow of Clark falling off the chair, to which the chair legs end up broken, and Mary escapes by breaking the pirate monsters leg. FUCKING GENIUS OF A MOVIE!”

The sheer ambition of the set design became a point of fascination in itself. Another viewer highlighted, “Fun fact: The production built around 30,000 square feet of Backrooms, which led to some crew members occasionally getting lost on set.”

This engagement extended to the film’s ambiguous ending and its core themes. A popular theory questions the protagonist’s escape, with one user speculating, “Mary might not have escaped. I think Phil implied that they were still inside the backrooms.”

The Fury: A24's Copyright Strikes Spark a Backlash

Simultaneously, a very different and far angrier conversation was unfolding. Reports began to surface that A24 was issuing takedown notices for a wide array of Backrooms-themed fan works that had no direct connection to the movie, sparking immediate backlash — and the other side isn't having it.

The sentiment was captured bluntly by one aggrieved fan: “A24 is issuing takedowns for all sorts of backrooms content on social media, as well as merch elsewhere right now, that have nothing to do with the movie. I feel like a lot of people were afraid this would happen. They just... own the backrooms.”

The anger intensified as it spread to indie game developers. "I SWEAR, A24 thinks they OWN Backrooms."

The Fallout: Clarifications Come, but Distrust Lingers

The backlash quickly reached the film’s creator, Kane Parsons, who initially responded with concern. On social media, he stated simply, “I’m looking into this. Should not be happening.” In an interview, he added that aggressive enforcement “just seems like a bad idea; we don’t want to make people angry at us for no good reason.”

A24 itself issued a statement attempting to quell the fury, posting, “A24 makes no claim of ownership over the yellow wallpaper, the original post referencing it, or any of the community works that have since been built around it. We will continue to support the artists who, like Kane, were inspired by it.”

Despite these clarifications, a layer of distrust persists. For many in the community, the incident confirmed a fear that corporate ownership would encroach on a concept born from collaborative, online folklore.

The Divide: Why Some Are Buying It and Others Aren't

Not all reaction to the film itself was rapturous. Some viewers found the execution lacking, even as they admired its visuals. One succinct review captured this middling stance: “Saw Backrooms. The rooms were really cool. The movie was okay.”

A more unique critique came from a viewer who framed it through a game design lens: “the backrooms isn't a good movie but it is maybe the first movie in history to have Level Design.” Another criticized the narrative pacing, writing, “Finally saw the Backrooms movie, and I didn't really enjoy it. The sets were amazing, but the overall story plus the entities being teased from the get go kinda instantly ruined the experience for me.”

This sharp division in the Backrooms movie controversy fan reaction stems from the film’s dual nature. It is both a polished A24 horror film and an adaptation of a grassroots internet mythos. One conversation judges it as a standalone piece of cinema, leading to praise for its craft and thematic ambition. The other judges it as a corporate act within a community space, where aggressive copyright enforcement feels like a betrayal of the open, creative spirit that spawned the Backrooms concept in the first place. The two discussions are happening in the same room, but they’re speaking entirely different languages — and one thing is certain: nobody is done talking about this.