A monster horror hit earlier in 2026 has found a streaming home to haunt later this month on HBO Max.
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A24’s Backrooms, which proved that a generation of young adults is terrified of empty office space (we kid), drops on the streamer exclusively on HBO Max on Sept. 25. Meanwhile, the film, which was the highest-grossing film in the studio’s history, will air on HBO the following night, Sept. 26 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The horror sensation, directed by 21-year-old wunderkind Kane Parsons and written by Will Soodik, grossed over $80 million domestically on a reported budget of just $10 million. The film, based on Parsons’ wildly popular YouTube series, stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark, an alcoholic furniture store owner who discovers a mysterious portal tucked away in his business.
Clark goes on to explore the seemingly unending maze of empty rooms and physics-defying chambers. What lies ahead for Clark becomes an allegory for a generation’s feelings of isolation following the Covid pandemic and an age dominated by social media and endless doomscrolling.
That said, it will probably make a lot of haunted houses this Halloween season look an awful lot like a funhouse mirror version of The Office.
Backrooms also stars Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.
Meanwhile, HBO Max has a deep bench of spine-tingling offerings as spooky season goes full swing. The streamer has crowd-pleasers like the vampire period piece Sinners, as well as complete runs of horror franchises like The Conjuring and Final Destination.