A Gen Z Revolution at the Movies

What It Covers

NYT film reporter Kyle Buchanan analyzes how two micro-budget horror films — Obsession ($750K budget, $265M global gross) and Backrooms (made by a 20-year-old, A24's fastest-ever hit) — drove Gen Z back to theaters in record numbers, revealing what Hollywood has been missing in its approach to younger audiences.

Key Questions Answered

• •YouTube-to-theater pipeline: Both films were directed by creators who built audiences on YouTube before Hollywood. Obsession's Curry Barker (age 26) and Backrooms' Kane Parsons (age 20, signed at 17) bypassed traditional film school entirely. Studios seeking Gen Z engagement should scout YouTube creators with established fanbases rather than relying on conventional development pipelines.
• •Franchise fatigue is real and measurable: Obsession and Backrooms generated comparable box office numbers to the first Star Wars film in seven years, despite costing a fraction of the budget. Gen Z audiences demonstrably reject legacy IP hand-me-downs — properties like He-Man toys from the 1980s or decades-old franchises hold no cultural equity with audiences who didn't grow up with them.
• •"Corn plating" drives repeat ticket sales: Films that embed ambiguous themes — Obsession's layers around consent, covert narcissism, and relationship anxiety — generate sustained online discourse that pulls audiences back for second and third viewings. Filmmakers should deliberately build interpretive depth into narratives to fuel social media analysis cycles and extend theatrical runs beyond opening weekends.
• •Reaction content is now part of the theatrical experience: Gen Z audiences film and post their in-theater reactions, creating a parallel social viewing layer that extends a film's reach far beyond ticket buyers. Films engineered to produce visible, shareable emotional responses — particularly fear or shock — gain organic distribution through platforms like TikTok, functioning as free, peer-generated marketing at scale.
• •Protect source material when adapting internet IP: Kane Parsons resisted studio offers for years, citing examples like American Horror Story's failed Backrooms episode as proof that Hollywood strips internet-native content of its appeal. Creators and studios adapting creepypastas, memes, or web series should treat existing online lore and community investment as non-negotiable creative constraints, not starting points to discard.