Three of the most talked about movies at the moment—Stress, Back roomsand The Amazing Digital Circus: The Final Act-couldn’t be more different at first glance. Stress it’s about a boy who accidentally casts a spell on a girl he secretly loves, making her fall in love with him again at the cost of turning her into a completely different person. Back rooms follows a furniture dealer who discovers a seemingly endless labyrinth of mysterious rooms behind a secret door inside his store. Digital Circus is a drama adapted from an animated TV show about a group of people stuck in a virtual world controlled by an artificial intelligence programmed to trigger strange events.
Despite their differences, these films also have a lot in common. All three can be classified as a major psychological fear. They have seen huge financial success compared to their traditional budgets, are based on or connected to pre-existing media properties that originated on the Internet, and were written and directed by Gen Z filmmakers.Back rooms‘ Kane Parsons – he is only 21 years old. The films also give voice to specific or widespread concerns among this troubled generation, which is rapidly evolving into an important political force worldwide. Supposedly those films are oral, what do they tell us?
Three of the most talked about movies at the moment—Stress, Back roomsand The Amazing Digital Circus: The Final Act-couldn’t be more different at first glance. Stress it’s about a boy who accidentally casts a spell on a girl he secretly loves, making her fall in love with him again at the cost of turning her into a completely different person. Back rooms follows a furniture dealer who discovers a seemingly endless labyrinth of mysterious rooms behind a secret door inside his store. Digital Circus is a drama adapted from an animated TV show about a group of people stuck in a virtual world controlled by an artificial intelligence programmed to trigger strange events.
Despite their differences, these films also have a lot in common. All three can be classified as a major psychological fear. They have seen huge financial success compared to their traditional budgets, are based on or connected to pre-existing media properties that originated on the Internet, and were written and directed by Gen Z filmmakers.Back rooms‘ Kane Parsons – he is only 21 years old. The films also give voice to specific or widespread concerns among this troubled generation, which is rapidly evolving into an important political force worldwide. Supposedly those films are oral, what do they tell us?
Like the films of Quentin Tarantino or Wes Anderson, Stress, Back roomsand Digital Circus they all convey a certain level of nostalgia for decades past. Stress‘s central plot device—the “one wish willow” that the protagonist, Bear, buys from a new-age curiosity shop—evokes the horror comedies of the 1950s and 60s. Meanwhile, its depiction of small-town American life—where the main characters work in a music store and meet for weekly event nights at a local bar—feels closer to the 1980s than now, where many once-friendly neighborhoods have been replaced by corporate ownership and the scourge of loneliness often have a visible presence.
Chiwetel Ejiofor in an event from Back rooms.IMDB
Back rooms takes place in the early 1990s, and enjoys the colorful beauty of that period. Even Digital Circusalthough it is concerned with modern technology, it chooses a look inspired by early computer-generated animation, when artists were still used to working with machines. In each film, visual cues contrast the brightest, seemingly best of the past with the darkness of their contemporary narratives.
Stress comments on social media and the influence of internet culture on dating and gender dynamics. While much of the film’s immediate threat comes from the increasingly vicious, controlling, and violent behavior of the bewitched Bear, Nikki (whom she wishes she could love “more than anyone in the messy world”), her true horror comes from the effects of the wish itself. Throughout the film, Bear shows no remorse for turning Nikki into a shadow of his former self—even when he knows that the original man is still somewhere inside him, he can do nothing but watch.
Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston in a scene from Stress.IMDB
Bear shows ideas around the incel and mansphere subcultures. Casting himself as what Gen Z audiences recognize as a “nice guy”—someone who uses high-level acceptance as money to secure romantic favors—he doesn’t see women as autonomous beings, but agencyless objects to be used and abused as he sees fit. Some may wonder why he doesn’t try to escape from Nikki or change his wishes, but—as director Curry Barker has done. he explained– that is not its purpose. For Bear, the issue is not that Nikki is trapped inside her own body, but that she is not living the way she wants.
Back rooms is a feature-length adaptation and sequel to a found footage series that first appeared on YouTube in 2022. It is based on a “creepypasta” (ie, an online horror story) about people who accidentally discover a hidden, parallel world with nothing but empty rooms with yellow backgrounds and flashing fluorescent lights. These “backyards” capture the beauty of what are known online as “underground spaces”—transitional or in-between spaces that contain various psychological and political contexts.
Some small spaces—such as offices, parking lots, and shopping malls—are small because they are designed to facilitate the creation and exchange of economic value. Interest in the concept thus reflects a growing frustration with capitalism’s destruction of livable environments (as, for example, outlined in James Howard Kunstler’s 1993 book, Geography of Nowhere) and, in addition, mental health. Not lost on the audience is the connection between the aforementioned yellow paper back rooms and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s famous short story of the same name, where the theme symbolizes the oppression of the female narrator by the forces of society.
Back rooms it also takes inspiration from Everywhere End of Timea series of experimental electronic musician James Leyland Kirby’s (professionally known as The Guardian) album that mimics the progression of dementia. On these albums, early 20th-century ballroom music slowly distorts and hints until, eventually, even the faintest echoes of the original songs fade away, leaving nothing but unrecognizable noise. Back roomswhich has a song from Everywhere End of Time in his soundtrack, he connects this idea to the current state of traditional production, where reboots and remakes, reaction videos to reaction videos, and AI cascades made from returned training data create an increasingly distorted and reduced sense of reality—like the back rooms themselves.
The Amazing Digital Circuswhich is also distributed on YouTube, is based on science fiction writer Harlan Ellison’s 1967 short story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.” The story revolves around an all-powerful Cold War supercomputer that develops sentience, causes nuclear holocausts, and tortures victims without mercy. AI opponent of Digital Circuscalled Caine, is basically ChatGPT. Unlike Ellison’s story, the suffering he causes is not intentional—he’s all smiles and eager to please—but stems from his inability to understand the existential fears that humans stuck within his digital domain are dealing with.
Characters from The Amazing Digital Circus: The Final Act.IMDB
The entrapment of these human characters mirrors the entrapment that Gen Z experiences in the real world. Various studies (including this one and the Harvard Kennedy School) see this generation as very concerned about the future and increasingly skeptical that things can and will improve. Job insecurity, wealth disparity, political dysfunction, and threats like AI and climate change conspiracy leave many feeling like they have no chance to grow and develop. As a result, the basic message of Digital Circus–explained and its creator (who goes by the other name Gooseworx) as finding meaning in a quiet life—it’s more than just relatable: It feels like the only option left.
Loss of agency, trap, and dissatisfaction with the establishment is also expressed in the unique way in which each of these three films has occurred. Barker, Parsons, and Gooseworx are independent content creators. Instead of working for the industry, they made a name for themselves by posting on the internet. While fans are happy to see Gen Z finally entering mainstream entertainment, this milestone also speaks to the diminishing opportunities for traditional career paths: As in many other industries, success is not only a goal, but also a barrier to entry.
That’s not to say this story is completely hopeless. All over the world, Gen Z is transforming its separation from existing power structures into belonging. Consider how last year in Nepal, young protesters used the messaging app Discord to organize protests and help choose interim prime minister as the first woman in the country the leader. (He has since been succeeded by 36-year-old Balendra Shah, currently the youngest national leader). Or how, in Indonesia and elsewhere, Gen Z protesters used symbols from popular anime like One Piece for mobilizing opposition for corruption in the government. By operating outside areas of direct government control—including social media and online fandom—they make it difficult for authorities to suppress or divide them.
The filmmakers discussed in this article have also used isolation to their advantage. Working independently, they didn’t have to deal with the kinds of commercial attractions that plague big-budget Hollywood productions. This creative freedom helped them gain a large following, which in turn enabled them to retain that freedom as they embarked on big budget projects. The hope is that, moving forward, studios and streaming services will be more willing to give creators what Gen Z craves: the freedom and opportunity to express themselves.
