Ever since the teaser trailer was released at the end of February, the internet has been abuzz over the Backrooms movie. And while this is nothing but a positive for the film, there is a negative side which is the spread of Backrooms misinformation online.
So what is Backrooms Misinformation?
Just like in the world of politics and news, Backrooms misinformation is the spreading of false information about the movie. This could be due to the content creator not doing their research, jumping on a trend or in the case of some more unscrupulous creators such as content farms it is done for clicks (usually these channels are monetized, therefore more views means more revenue).
We are mainly referencing videos in this article because that appears to be where most of the misinformation is coming from. But that’s not to say it doesn’t exist elsewhere. Misinformation could also be in the form of an image, an article or even someone flying a banner up a flagpole if they really wanted to. It can be anywhere so keep your eyes open for it!
What Misinformation is Out There?
The Movie will have Levels
This is the most common misinformation out there. Even with the theatrical trailer being released, people still are out there saying that the movie will show levels that are in the extended lore of the wikis and games. A common video trend going around is a short video that will have text on the screen similar to “this is the Backrooms movie we are getting in May” and then will show shots of well known levels or even liminal spaces.
While others are twisting the recent trailer to indicate it means it will have levels – such as the swimming pool means the Poolrooms level will be shown, or the glimpse of the sky in the distance means that it will show Level 94. This is not the case at all!
Others also take the fact that there are some different areas in Kane’s series to mean there will be levels. These are not the same and are not related to the levels in the extended lore. Think of them more as biomes or changes in the environment.
Monsters/Entities in the Movie
The Backrooms movie will not have entities like Smilers, Partygoers, Skinstealers, etc. Like the levels, these entities are part of the extended universe. Currently there are only two monsters in the Kane Pixels universe – this is Bacteria and Still Life. It is entirely possible that the movie may reveal a new monster. If this happens, it will be an original concept and not something that exists in another Backrooms lore.
As a side-note, we want to add here that a lot of the misinformation and assumptions around monsters is due to the fact that Bacteria features in many Backrooms games – the same games that predominately use extended lore entities and levels. As great as some of these games are, “crossing the lores” or adding Kane’s creation to a game set in an extended lore Backrooms is why some people are convinced that we will see certain monsters in the movie.
The Soundtrack for the Backrooms Movie
Although we don’t know completely what the soundtrack to Backrooms will be like, we do know that it is being composed by Kane Parsons and Edo Van Breemen. What we don’t know is if there will be any music by other artists in the movie.
The main piece of misinformation around the music is that the soundtrack will only consist of the popular liminal / dreamcore music that is commonly used in short-form videos. Since the inclusion of the song “Six Forty Seven” by Instupendo in the trailer, the misinformation around this has increased with people saying other similar tracks will be on the soundtrack too.
The fact is that we don’t know. But what we do know is that the soundtrack isn’t going to be entirely made up of this music due to that Kane and Edo are composing the music for it.
What the Movie is Based On
This crosses over into the two previous points about misinformation saying that the movie is based on the Extended Lore version of the Backrooms. This also connects in with misinformation about the movie being based on a game, and in fact one very large commercial games/entertainment website was saying this at one point. So even more reputable sources can be incorrect. We have found a lot of hardcore gamers have this impression as they do not engage with the Backrooms outside the games, so it’s simply based on what they know – not intentional but still uninformed.
Backrooms Origin
If you don’t know where the Backrooms originated, doing a quick Google search will give you the answer. It’s origin isn’t something that is difficult to find or no one remembers where it came from. But in spite of this, people will still try to say that it came from somewhere other than a 4chan post. Most common is actually that Kane himself created the Backrooms concept. the other common one is that the Backrooms originated on TikTok. Both of these are 100% incorrect.
Kane has never said that he created the concept. What he has mentioned was that he wasn’t aware of an existing community creating Backrooms lore/content when he first discovered the concept. He has also mentioned how he saw the original image on Instagram and created an render inspired by it.
Fake set Photos, Leaks and Screenshots
While these aren’t as common as they were when the teaser trailer first released, it is still important to be aware of them. Several AI generated images have circulated which depicted crew members on sets that were Backrooms in nature. These commonly showed either the familiar yellow walls or scenes showing the dreamcore style houses (like those in the short set leak video posted on TikTok last year). Although the spread of these images has seemed to die down somewhat in recent weeks, they do still pop-up from time to time, with one even making it’s way onto IMDB. If you see these images with a claim that they are real set images, you should report them.
Anything that is not on our leaks and information page, should be considered as fake.
Additionally many fans have recreated the Backrooms from the movie in Blender. And while it is amazing to see fans do this, other people will take these videos and images and claim them to be from the movie. If it isn’t in the trailer or officially released by A24 or posted by Kane, then you’re seeing a fan render (including renders of the same areas from a different angle).
But why is this Bad?
It’s just a movie, it doesn’t need to be taken seriously.
While this statement is partially true, misinformation can be damaging to the reputation of the movie and even Kane Parsons in the long-run. With the Backrooms being what it is – a shared universe – not everyone is a fan of or even familiar with Kane’s series. Some people only engage with the Extended Lore of the wikis which is often carried over into many of the Backrooms games that have been made.
Let’s look at an example scenario. Someone is a huge fan of the extended lore. Let’s for examples sake say that they love the Partygoers and Level Fun (for those not into the extended lore, the Partygoers are a popular entity, especially amongst younger Backrooms fans). They come across multiple videos online that tell them the Partygoers and Level Fun are going to be in the movie. They believe this and look forward to it. When the movie comes out, they go to watch it and do not see any sign of the Partygoers or Levels or any other things about the Backrooms that they are a fan of. They were really looking forward to these aspect and even if they did enjoy the movie, they still wished it at least had Partygoers in it. They are now disappointed as they expected something different.
And while most people who end up being disappointed in a movie might just talk about it amongst their friends and family, some people will leave a negative review on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB. Negative reviews aren’t necessarily a bad thing – they help audiences determine what is a good and bad movie. But negative reviews that are made due to invalid reasons can be damaging to a movie and to the studio as if enough people do it it – it skews the rating making a good movie appear to be average, an average movie appear to be bad, etc. So imagine if our disappointed Partygoers fan and others left negative reviews for the movie based on that there were no extended lore aspects in the movie – that’s an invalid reason to give a bad review. He was given a false expectation – by sources that were providing false information – and is basing his review on that it wasn’t the way he was told it would be.
It’s only a few Videos, it can’t be that Harmful
If that were the case, it wouldn’t be a problem. The trouble is there is actually A LOT of these videos on YouTube, Instagram Reels and mostly TikTok. A lot of these videos have gone viral or are from large accounts which have a lot of reach and followers. And while there have been some really good creators out there making content to explain what the movie is actually based on, this doesn’t always get pushed out to the people who need to see it.
What can I do to Help?
If you come across a video or post that is spreading misinformation, take a minute to leave a comment. It doesn’t have to be long. Although the creator most likely wont take notice (and most won’t – believe me, I’ve only had 3 creators actually engage with me about the issue since I started doing this, two who actually altered their content – so a small victory!). But lots of comments about the same thing on a video will get noticed. So the more comments left, the more it will help others realize the content in the video isn’t true.
Likewise if you see a comment by someone who is asking if something is in the movie that doesn’t relate to the Kane Pixels universe, then take the time to educate them and let them know. It goes a long way. I’ve done this as well and people generally will thank me even if they are disappointed.
How do I know if it’s Misinformation?
Keep an eye out for wording such as “what will be in the Backrooms movie” and wording that claims things are true. A thumbnail/preview that shows extended lore images is also a common sign.
Do keep in mind that there are also videos where someone is simply giving their own opinion, such as what someone would like to see in the Backrooms movie. There is nothing wrong with an opinion or preference, even if it is different to the reality. These types of videos might have wording similar to “what I would like to see in the Backrooms movie”. There can be grey areas too so if unsure, watch the video to determine what stance it is taking. It’s still okay to comment on a video which is opinion based, but don’t put someone down just because they enjoy a different Backrooms lore.
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