Kane Parsons is 20. Here's how he made A24s biggest summer movie, the spooky 'Backrooms'

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“I was born the same year as YouTube,” says Kane Parsons, the precocious filmmaker about to upgrade from online-only fame to big-screen recognition.That year — brace yourself — is 2005.Back in 2022, Parsons, then a 16-year-old living in Petaluma, uploaded an enigmatic video titled “The Backrooms (Found Footage).” He crafted it at home primarily using Blender, a free 3D-animation software application.In the nine-minute short, a young cameraman falls into what appears to be an empty furniture store with an eerie atmosphere: a seemingly endless series of rooms covered in yellow wallpaper and buzzing fluorescent lights.With 77 million views and close to two dozen videos so far, that project served as the viral seed that has now bloomed into Parsons’ first feature, “Backrooms,” out May 29 from A24.Devoid of facial hair but sporting golden curls, the cherubic Parsons meets me at a Hollywood hotel’s courtyard restaurant in April just a few days after putting the final touches on his movie.Though serious, Parsons’ handsomeness prevents him from looking stereotypically nerdy.

He could be in front of the camera if he chose.A plain blue-gray sweater gives him a tech-casual air.

Parsons comes across as a hyperintelligent, mature soul, one who happens to be doing press for a potential summer blockbuster.“I forget about my age constantly because I think everyone forgets about their age,” he says.“When I spend every waking minute thinking about the project, the concept of me having an age feels irrelevant.”When he talks, Parsons seems to be unraveling his thoughts as he verbalizes them.

He shows his work in sentences, as if he were solving a mental equation.To say he is not your average 20-year-old would be an understatement.At 13, Parsons made a conscious effort to read about brain development.

He was trying to maximize his learning abilities in order to make b...