Mark Duplass Defends Kane Parsons’ Directing Of Backrooms
Actor Mark Duplass has taken to social media to defend new director Kane Parsons amid the release of his feature debut, Backrooms, a horror based on the internet phenomenon of the same name starring Duplass, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.
The A24 film charts the existence and exploration of a mysterious liminal space cited as the backrooms, which therapist Mary Kline (Reinsve) journeys into to find her patient Clark (Ejiofor) after he goes missing due to his obsession with proving the space exists.
A huge portion of the film’s marketing is centred on Parsons making A24 history as the youngest director to lead a film under the distribution company at just 19-20 years old. Following a career on YouTube as a visual effects artist creating a popular, smash-hit series explaining the phenomenon of the backrooms, Parsons was hired to adapt his work into a feature sci-fi horror film, something he described as feeling “like a very bizarre dream that it’s also been as seamless as it has been.”
“It’s been really, really great, obviously. What I’m used to online has been doing everything so low, so this has been my one and only really first foray into a broader collaborative experience like this. And in a lot of ways, it feels sort of like a weird dream come true, where there’s really not been many barriers to creative control along the way,” the filmmaker added. “I think I was pretty specific about my pipeline when we first started talking, and it’s obviously evolved a little bit over the years, cause when this first started gaining traction and when I first met with them, I was 16.”
However, some online dialogue has been far from positive, with one X post making the scathing accusation that “we all know Kane Parsons absolutely didn’t direct this movie,” something star Duplass wasted no time dismissing.
“Hmmm, with all due respect, I don’t remember seeing you on set,” the actor posted in defence. “When I was there, Kane was 100% in control. More so than many directors 3x his age.”
Star Reinsve has also sung the director’s praises by sharing how she felt safe under his direction and that “he knew exactly what he wanted and he had such a world of deep references of what exactly, specifically, he wanted….I felt very safe being in his world.”
“Every end of the day he would come up and ask ‘what could I do better for tomorrow?'” the actress added. “He was just so humble about getting that first movie made, and he really wanted to learn. I felt that he was taking care of everyone.”
Backrooms hits cinemas on May 29th.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
About the Author
