Mat Rappaport explains the lessons we can learn from the two hit horror movies by directors in their 20s
“Obsession,” pictured above, and “Backrooms” were both filmed on tight budgets and have grossed hundreds of millions worldwide. Photo: Courtesy of Focus Features
Two Gen Z directors are disrupting the box office with their independent horror films.
The first, Obsession, is about a young man who uses a mysterious “One Wish Willow” toy to make his crush love him more than anyone in the world—with sinister results. It was written, directed, and edited by 26-year-old Curry Barker, who got his start creating sketch comedy on YouTube. It was shot on a budget of $750,000 and has grossed more than $286 million worldwide, becoming Focus Features’ highest-grossing film of all time.
Backrooms follows the discovery of a terrifying liminal dimension hidden in the basement of a furniture store. First-time director Kane Parsons, 20, initially adapted the “backroom” internet urban legend into a web series in 2022 before studios approached him to turn the concept into a feature film. The movie has grossed more than $248 million worldwide and is distributor A24’s highest grossing film to date. Parsons is also the youngest filmmaker to reach number one in the U.S. box office.
Film & Media Studies Professor of the Practice Mat Rappaport spoke to Tufts Now about how the young directors’ experiences coming up through online video pathways have contributed to their success.
Why do you think these two indie movies are surpassing traditional blockbusters at the box office?
It’s fascinating to watch the ways studios are looking for new talent in people who already have a clear aesthetic and audience. They are looking to capitalize on the fact that we have a generation of people who’ve grown up on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat and a generation of creators who have cultivated these audiences.
It reminds me of Charli D’Amelio, who went from being a TikTok phenomenon to parlaying that into the reality series and transitioning from influencer to celebrity. What we might be seeing is a mining of that talent in those audiences and trying to bring them into something a little bit more mainstream.
Both movies were made by directors in their 20s. What does this signal to the film industry?
There’s a huge advantage to cultivating audiences and being able to demonstrate the interest in what they’re doing before there’s a large investment placed in their work. From an industry analysis standpoint, if you already have somebody who is creating interesting, good, unique content and they have an audience, then it’s less of a risk. They already have channels to create interest in the things they’re doing. Your connection to platform and distribution is really powerful.
Something that’s pretty exciting about young creators is that unlike in previous generations, there is the opportunity and the ability for people who are creators, filmmakers, and storytellers to really hone a craft from a very young age. It’s not uncommon now for people who are in their early teens to start getting access to some sort of social media and play with apps that allow you to create video and audio content. Younger people who are engaged in those practices, in some ways, have a leg up over previous generations, because they have so many more hours into the practice.
These films are getting a lot of attention in online conversations. How do you think their popularity on digital forums translates to their success?
As things are seen as engaging by the algorithms, they get amplified. Next thing you know, you’ve got ObsessionTok, or BackroomsTok. Online communities and algorithms not only show us what we’re interested in as a culture, but there’s a popularity effect. The social currency of being in the know. If you want to be somebody who’s online and knowledgeable, then you might want to go see Backrooms, because everybody’s talking about it. Kind of like the Love Island effect.
Both directors began their careers making short works on YouTube. What advice do you have for young creators looking to get their own start?
We have programs at Tufts in Film and Media Studies with a curriculum that can help you learn about these systems, industries, and technical processes.
The other advice I would give is to look at the things that you really love and look at how those things are made. Look how they’ve found their audience, and where possible, replicate it.
The beauty of making things in 2026 is that there’s actually a good amount of transparency for how you can make things, and access to the tools of production and distribution.
I also think it is really important for anybody making things online to not always just think about the content, but the systems themselves, the platforms, and the way in which they are optimized for certain kinds of engagement.
High arousal content drives engagement. This is one reason we see content that triggers outrage and anger rising to the top of our social media feeds. But, I think it is really important for anybody making things online to know that these platforms and the way they are optimized for certain kinds of engagement don’t actually determine whether your content is “good” or not.
