š¬ #212 A Film From A Meme.
Iād never actually delved into the lore that began this weekās film before, but itās the kind of idea I love. Something ode, otherworldly, co-existing alongside the world we live in day to day. The original short film based on the meme / single image has been viewed over 70 million times on YouTube. Made when the filmmaker was just 16, working with his friends and some at home CGI - the same filmmaker has now made a feature film based on the same idea with A24. Super exciting.
Please enjoy
Bry
The above image was released as a teaser for the A24 film earlier this year, with the trailer soon following. Having watched the trailer and been massively excited that they had made a film adaptation, of an image essentially, I delved into the history of where this idea spawned from. Propelled along by a smiling satisfaction, knowing that only in 2026 could a film have its roots in a āmeme,ā I looked back through the modern history of this meme masterpiece. I love this world we live in - genuinely. Some might turn their noses up over a project not based on a best-selling book or the latest culturally iconic game, but I love that something with such a small start can pull in peopleās imaginations so powerfully. Thatās the lure of pure concept.
This is the original photo - pre-meme - that was taken in 2002, years before the image started circulating on 4chan.
It wasnāt until 2019 that the meme was born, when the image was posted on a thread calling for ādisquieting images that just feel āoff.āā People then started to write the story themselves in response, birthing the lore. That eventually lead to the image paired with just enough story to birth a truly horrific idea - that you āslipā out of this reality into the Backrooms - a seemingly infinite liminal space, that holds god knows what. Itās the mystery of it and its unheimlich nature that makes the idea so captivating. Plus, itās such an oddly banal space - real yet unreal. Nothing looks overtly āhorrorā about it at all - just a creepy emptiness with no end.
The internet does was it does best and traced the original photo back [it took 20 years +] to one that was taken during construction of HobbyTown USA in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The venue is now so visited they have a poster requesting people not to disturb the peace. Below is the meme that included a short paragraph that set-up a whole world to be explored.
Based off this, Kane Pixels [Kane Parsons] made a 9 minute short film and posted it on YouTube in 2022. That caught fire and expanded the concept in sharp and smart ways. Millions of views later, the short and subsequent series on YouTube caught the attention of A24 and now here we are. Iām excited to see the film - check out the original short and trailer below.