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Quick Answer

Is Backrooms or Obsession the better 2026 horror?

Neither The Backrooms nor Obsession has a verified Celluloid Score yet. Obsession is the monkey’s-paw romance breakout; Backrooms is A24 liminal-space spectacle from Kane Parsons. Compare release facts, trailers and casts below.

The matchup

Obsession is the monkey’s-paw romance breakout; Backrooms is A24 liminal-space spectacle from Kane Parsons.

Two different horror jobs in H1 2026. Barker’s Obsession won four-quadrant heat on a tiny budget; Parsons’s Backrooms scaled YouTube mythology into an A24 box-office phenomenon. Both sit on the genre desk.

The Backrooms (2026)

Kane Parsons · Horror, Sci-Fi · 1h 51m

United States · English · May 29, 2026

Review pending — no verified score yet

Yes, with reservations. It is a patient, unsettling horror film for viewers who prefer atmosphere to jump scares, even if its mythology thins at feature length.

When a family vanishes through an ordinary office door into the endless yellow corridors of an internet-born nightmare, a search-and-rescue operation becomes something far more existential. YouTube sensation Kane Parsons makes his feature debut by grounding the Backrooms myth in real grief, institutional failure, and the terror of spaces that should not exist.

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Obsession (2026)

Curry Barker · Horror, Romance, Thriller · 1h 49m

United States · English · May 15, 2026

Review pending — no verified score yet

Yes. It is a nasty, clever and very funny horror film about wanting to be loved too much, ideal for horror fans who can take its uncomfortable, violent turns.

Music-store clerk Bear Bailey breaks a novelty "One Wish Willow" charm to make co-worker Nikki Freeman love him more than anyone in the world. The wish comes true — and warps into a supernatural compulsion that turns desire into violence, trapping Bear inside a nightmare he cannot wish away.

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Score breakdown

Signal The Backrooms Obsession
Celluloid Score — —
Editorial rating — —
Audience snapshot (excluded) — —
Metascore — —
Letterboxd 0 0
IMDb 0 0
Runtime 1h 51m 1h 49m
Country United States United States

Methodology: scoring policy · how we compare to other sites