Neon's Upcoming Psychological Horror Is Backrooms Meets Dead End

2 hours ago 13

Published Aug 1, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones.

You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep."

Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant.

Horror tends to reflect trends perhaps more than any other genre in existence, and an interesting pattern is currently emerging, with movies set inside one inescapable location gaining traction. With an impressive 87% positive critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes and terrifying source material in the form of a creepypasta urban legend, Backrooms has popularized the idea, creating a movie that perfectly conveyed the original post's sense of fear and unease. That said, the idea of being trapped but without being physically immobilized has been central to many horror movies that use other locations to achieve the same effect.

Dead End explored a similar tone to Backrooms, with a family in a car on a journey that keeps getting interrupted by the same mysterious figures, while Neon is about to give us a harrowing road trip nightmare that will mess with your head in the form of It Ends. The story follows four friends on a drive through a forest road that seems to have no turnings, while a hidden danger lurks just beyond the treeline. While the movie is set in a car, like Dead End, it is arguably even more claustrophobic than Backrooms.

It Ends Isn't Just 'Backrooms On A Road,' But You Get The Idea

It is easy to compare It Ends with Backrooms, as the two movies share the same approach to horror, trapping the characters in an environment that feels endless. However, describing It Ends as "Backrooms on a road" does not do either movie justice. Backrooms has a very specific sickly yellow color scheme that reflects the defining images from the source material, and even viewers unfamiliar with the story will find the movie's aesthetic instantly disconcerting. On the other hand, It Ends appears idyllic at first, reflecting an often-romanticized desire to be lost in the woods.

The ages of the characters significantly change the respective movies' trajectories, with Backrooms' Clark being an middle-aged man exploring his experiences with his therapist, while It Ends centers on four much younger characters, with different life plans and approaches to the situation they are trapped in. This aspect ensures It Ends is a thriller that Gen Z will relate with, as the movie does not turn its young cast into stereotypes or vapid caricatures, while capturing the dark humor and meme culture that defined a generation.

This does not mean Backrooms will not appeal to horror fans regardless of age, but it highlights the way in which It Ends is an entirely different movie. Backrooms begins with Clark's emotional state but becomes an exploration of the liminal space beyond, while It Ends reverses this, beginning with the mystery of the forest but soon switching focus to the characters' emotional journeys. Dead End shares a location with It Ends, but its central question concerns whether the characters are reliable narrators, giving the movie a many-layered approach that sets it apart.

Horror Is Truly In Its 'Liminal Spaces' Era

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark in the liminal space room in Backrooms

Liminal spaces and neverending landscapes might not sound like nightmare fuel to everyone, but horror is one of the most subjective genres in existence, and the theme has become a common fear with the help of reels and videos resembling the original Backrooms creepypasta. Liminal space horror movies like Backrooms have existed for decades, but the concept is coming to define some of the best horror movies of the past five years, and it is not difficult to guess why, as horror tends to reflect the fears of the decade, from the "satanic panic" to the age of serial killers.

It Ends was released for digital rental via Letterboxd in December 2025, and is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States by Neon August 21, 2026.

With many currently feeling trapped in dead-end environments, liminal space horror movies provide visuals that illustrate the fears and frustrations connected with this situation. It Ends is especially significant, with the setup likely to resonate with people still feeling the effects of 2020 and being confined in a single space, even with friends. The movie has a 96% positive critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, and as indie horror movies like Backrooms are taking over Hollywood, horror's liminal space era may continue indefinitely, with more movies like It Ends waiting around the corner.