Gen Z crowds lift indie horror films at the box office

WASHINGTON: Two low-budget horror releases from young YouTube filmmakers are drawing strong turnout from younger cinema-goers and prompting fresh interest in Hollywood over what is resonating with Generation Z audiences.

A24’s Backrooms, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, earned $118 million in its opening weekend, while Focus Features’ Obsession, directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker, brought in $148 million worldwide in two weeks. Obsession was made on a budget of $750,000.

Matthew Frank, an associate editor at Hollywood-focused digital media company The Ankler, said the performance of the two films could mark a wider shift in the industry. He said the films were finding success with younger viewers who are often not directly targeted by mainstream releases.

"It's a huge, huge success and a real turning point for the industry, potentially"

Frank said most ticket buyers over the past two weekends had been younger than 35, with many under 25.

have been under 35 and even, you know, under 25. So, it's appealing to this demographic [that] normally doesn't really get spoken to.

Studios look for new theatrical momentum

Multiplexes have been under pressure in recent years because of the growth of streaming platforms, a slower-than-expected ticket sales recovery after Covid, and the 2023 Hollywood strikes that disrupted production. This year’s box office figures have improved hopes for the strongest year since the pandemic.

That recovery has partly been linked to younger viewers. A report by the National Research Group found that Generation Z increased the box office by 25% last year. Ronnie Yount, who owns the Midwest-based Phoenix Theaters chain, said cinema operators were highly encouraged by the recent weekends. He compared the effect of the two horror titles on ticket sales to that of Lilo & Stitch, saying that would previously have seemed unlikely.

YouTube creators move into mainstream film

Frank said the key to attracting younger moviegoers was making films that speak directly to them, rather than relying too heavily on long-running franchise formulas. He said studios had mistaken the problem for a lack of interest among young people, when the issue was often the kind of films being produced.

Hollywood's problem, for a while, was saying, 'oh, it's young people,' when in fact it was because they were making the 10th (installment in) pre-existing franchises that were popular for their parents.

He added that audiences respond when studios produce work specifically for them.

"When you make something that's for that audience, that's when they'll come out"

Parsons, who is known on YouTube as Kane Pixels, has 3.2 million subscribers and more than 300 million views. He told AFP that the idea behind Backrooms grew out of a 2019 image posted on an internet forum showing an unexplained yellow room-like space.

vaguely nostalgic and vaguely dreamlike but also very tangible science-fiction concept.

His video about a young man trapped in frightening corridors quickly drew millions of views and later led to a deal with A24. Barker, whose YouTube channel That’s a Bad Idea has 1.1 million subscribers, went on to premiere Obsession at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025. The film centres on the fallout after a young man’s wish is granted and the person he desires becomes obsessed with him.

Frank said the success of the two projects has become a major talking point across the film business.

"How can we replicate this?"

At the same time, he cautioned that the answer was not simply to sign up internet stars, saying the real challenge remained identifying strong filmmaking talent wherever it emerged from.

It still requires just finding the great filmmakers, which can come anywhere.