Video game designer Hideo Kojima has praised the hit horror film The Backrooms after viewing the picture, writing on his official page on social media platform X that the movie left him in complete shock.
The developer, best known as the creator of the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding video game series, said the picture reminded him of early 3D video games created when developers first began transitioning from the 2D era, before the introduction of polygons and textures.
Kojima noted that the film constantly conveys a sense of anxiety from traveling through closed rooms. He explained that the movie features simulated 3D spaces built from repeating visual techniques, describing them as digital mazes unfettered by traditional architectural rules. He added that feelings of confinement and anxiety both come alive in the production in a live-action format.
Liminal space and artistic direction
According to Kojima, the smart artistic direction of the feature incorporates elements of art, architecture and psychology. He described the film as a version of liminal space where video games from the 1980s and the modern world connect across dimensions, creating an environment where nostalgia and novelty attack the audience in the form of art.
Kojima is an influential Japanese video game director celebrated for his cinematic storytelling and complex world building. Internet creepypastas are horror-related legends shared across online communities, while liminal spaces refer to eerie, transitional locations, such as vacant corridors or abandoned office buildings, that evoke feelings of disorientation.
Creepypasta origin and box office earnings
The horror film adapts the famous internet creepypasta myth surrounding the Backrooms. According to the myth, a person can fall into a labyrinth of empty office spaces completely by accident and wander for a long time, encountering various creatures while listening to the constant hum of fluorescent lamps.
The movie achieved major commercial success at the global box office, generating $389 million in ticket sales against a modest budget of $10 million. The film also recorded high figures in Russia, where overall box office returns surpassed 650 million rubles.
