The internet’s most unsettling piece of internet folklore is finally getting a proper cinematic treatment — and it’s reigniting conversation about a deeply strange, criminally underseen horror film that deserves a second look.
The Backrooms, the creepypasta phenomenon that began as a single eerie image of an empty office space posted to 4chan in 2019, is being adapted into a feature film. For horror fans tracking that news, it’s also a well-timed reminder that a quietly brilliant 100-minute horror gem already exists and shares a striking amount of DNA with everything that makes the Backrooms concept so unnerving.
That film is I Saw the TV Glow, the 2024 A24 psychological horror written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun. If you haven’t seen it, the Backrooms adaptation announcement might be the best reason yet to fix that.
What Makes the Backrooms Adaptation Worth Paying Attention To
The Backrooms mythology taps into something genuinely primal. The original creepypasta describes the sensation of “noclipping” out of reality — passing through a wall in the physical world and ending up in an infinite maze of fluorescent-lit, yellow-carpeted office space. No exits. No other people. Just the hum of lights and the creeping certainty that something else is in there with you.
It became one of the most resonant pieces of internet horror in years, spawning fan-made videos, games, and elaborate lore expansions. The concept is so simple and so effective that a feature film adaptation has been anticipated by horror communities for some time.
What makes it culturally interesting beyond the jump scares is what it represents: the terror of being trapped in a liminal space, a place that exists between real destinations, stripped of meaning and context. Airports at 3 a.m. Empty parking garages. Office buildings on weekends. The Backrooms took that ambient dread and turned it into mythology.
Why I Saw the TV Glow Is the Film You Should Watch Right Now
I Saw the TV Glow operates on almost exactly the same psychological frequency. The film follows two suburban teenagers who bond over a mysterious late-night TV show, and slowly — almost imperceptibly — the line between the world inside the television and the world they actually inhabit begins to dissolve.
It’s a film about dissociation, identity, and the specific horror of not knowing whether the life you’re living is the real one. That’s liminal space terror in a completely different form. Where the Backrooms traps you in an endless office, Schoenbrun’s film traps its characters inside an existence that feels fundamentally wrong — a life that doesn’t fit, a reality that hums with wrongness the way fluorescent lights hum in an empty corridor.
Running at just under 100 minutes, it never overstays its welcome. But it lingers for days afterward.
The Overlooked Horror Film That Deserves More Attention
Despite an A24 release and strong critical reception, I Saw the TV Glow flew under the radar for many mainstream horror audiences. It’s not a conventional horror film — there are no monsters in the traditional sense, no clear villain, no third-act confrontation. What it offers instead is something rarer and harder to shake: sustained psychological unease built through atmosphere, color, and a story that refuses to resolve itself neatly.
Schoenbrun, who also directed the equally unsettling We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, has developed a filmmaking voice that sits in genuinely unexplored territory. The films feel internet-native in their sensibility — they understand how dread accumulates online, how mythology spreads, how a single image or idea can hollow you out if you let it.
That’s precisely why the Backrooms adaptation conversation keeps circling back to this film. The thematic overlap isn’t coincidental. Both are fundamentally about the same fear.
Liminal Horror: What These Two Stories Share
| Element | The Backrooms | I Saw the TV Glow |
|---|---|---|
| Core fear | Being trapped in a wrong, endless space | Living inside a life that doesn’t belong to you |
| Visual tone | Fluorescent light, yellow carpet, empty corridors | Saturated suburban colors, television glow |
| Origin | Internet creepypasta, 4chan image post (2019) | Original screenplay, A24 release (2024) |
| Horror type | Liminal space, existential dread | Dissociation, identity horror |
| Runtime | Feature adaptation in development | Approximately 100 minutes |
The comparison isn’t about one being better than the other. It’s about recognizing that the Backrooms taps a cultural nerve that I Saw the TV Glow already explored with remarkable depth — and that if the concept of liminal horror interests you, Schoenbrun’s film is the most fully realized version of that idea currently available to watch.
What Happens Next for the Backrooms Film
Details on the Backrooms feature adaptation remain limited at this stage. The project has generated significant buzz in horror communities, but a confirmed director, cast, or release window has not been publicly announced as of this writing.
What is clear is that the appetite for this kind of horror — quiet, atmospheric, rooted in existential rather than physical threat — is growing. The success of films like I Saw the TV Glow within dedicated horror circles, combined with the enduring popularity of the Backrooms mythology online, suggests that studios see real commercial potential in liminal space horror done well.
In the meantime, I Saw the TV Glow is available to watch now. For anyone already excited about the Backrooms adaptation, it’s essentially required viewing — not as homework, but because it’s one of the most genuinely unsettling horror films of the past several years, and it’s only 100 minutes of your life.
Sometimes the best reason to watch something overlooked is that something louder reminded you it exists.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Backrooms creepypasta?
The Backrooms is an internet horror concept originating from a 2019 image post on 4chan, describing an infinite maze of empty, fluorescent-lit office space that people can accidentally “noclip” into from reality.
What is I Saw the TV Glow?
It is a 2024 psychological horror film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, released by A24, running at approximately 100 minutes, and centering on two teenagers whose grip on reality begins to unravel through their obsession with a mysterious TV show.
Who directed I Saw the TV Glow?
Jane Schoenbrun directed the film. Schoenbrun also previously directed We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.
Has the Backrooms film been officially confirmed with a director or release date?
Specific details including a confirmed director, cast, or release date have not been publicly announced at this time.
Why is I Saw the TV Glow being compared to the Backrooms?
Both share a core thematic focus on liminal space horror — the dread of being trapped in a reality that feels fundamentally wrong or inescapable — though they express that fear through very different stories.
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