New Delhi: Two horror films directed by YouTubers are outperforming many studio-backed productions, proving that digital creators can successfully transition to the big screen. Obsession, written and directed by YouTuber Curry Barker and Backrooms, directed by 20-year-old creator Kane Parsons, have emerged as unexpected box-office successes.
Obsession was made on a reported budget of around $1 million and has earned around $148 million worldwide. Released in India on 29 May, two weeks after its US debut, the film has already crossed Rs 8 crore at the Indian box office.
Meanwhile, Backrooms, released by A24, has grossed $118 million worldwide against a budget of $10 million. It is yet to be released in India.
Barker is known for running the comedy-sketch YouTube channel “That’s A Bad Idea.” He built an online following through situational comedy. In Obsession, however, he has used a completely different storytelling style.
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Blockbuster hits
The film, based loosely on WW Jacobs’ short story Monkey’s Paw, follows teenager Bear, played by Michael Johnston, who desperately wants to date his crush Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette. In an attempt to win her heart, he breaks a mysterious “One Wish Willow” stick.
What begins as a familiar high-school romance quickly converts into horror. Nikki becomes dangerously obsessed with Bear and starts killing anyone she suspects of being a threat to their relationship. The film blends teenage romance, dark comedy and horror into a story about love turning into obsession.
If Barker’s success story is about reinventing himself, Parsons’ journey is about expanding a viral internet video into a blockbuster film.
Parsons’ Backrooms has become A24’s biggest opening in its 18-year history, surpassing the record previously held by Civil War (2024), directed by Alex Garland.
The story follows a furniture store owner, Clark, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, and his therapist wife, Mary, played by Renate Reinsve, trapped in another dimension, and in an endless maze of corridors and liminal spaces.
Backrooms is heavily inspired by Parsons’ 2022 YouTube series. The original videos were found-footage type created with the help of Blender, an open-source 3D software, featuring a cameraman roaming through vast, empty corridors. There were no characters, performances or dialogue-heavy scenes. Instead, the architecture, atmosphere, and sound became the protagonists. The videos are recorded from a point of view angle.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)