A Gen Z Revolution at the Movies

Okay. Natalie, what time is it? >> It's 8:36, I want to say, in the morning, to be. clear. We're going to see Obsession, um, which is going to be scary. >> So, you're somebody who's reported on. like cartels. >> Yes, yes. >> Where you at on nervousness? >> I'm I'm terrified. This is different.

From The New York Times, I'm Natalie. Kitroeff. This is The Daily. For years, Hollywood's been trying to. solve an existential problem. How to get. young people to go to the movies. And then, this summer, it happened at an. unthinkable scale, thanks to two. low-budget horror films made by. 20-something directors, which drove Gen. Z to the theaters in such high numbers. that I had to go to the movies to find. out what was behind it.

>> I'm going to get so much food. I'm going. to stress eat [music] everything in this. theater. >> Today, my colleague Kyle Buchanan. explains what younger audiences saw in. these films, and how they've energized. an entire industry. >> [music]. >> It's Tuesday, June 16th. I don't know I literally don't know why. I agreed to do this. We should have. gotten Michael to do this. >> Hello. >> Kyle, I'm really excited to have this.

conversation in part because I need. therapy after watching both of these. movies. We are here because something crazy is. happening at the box office right now, and this is your world, this is your. beat. Tell me what is going on. >> Something crazy is happening, and it's. still happening. We have two movies, Obsession and Backrooms, that are such. runaway successes that they basically. shocked the industry. They were made for. almost no money by young people who got.

their start on YouTube way, way, way. outside the Hollywood studio system, and. now here they are beating Hollywood at. their own game. >> And when we say runaway hits, what do. you mean by that? >> What I mean by that is you have the film. Obsession, which is defying gravity at. the box office from week to week in ways. that have never been done before, and. then you also have Backrooms, which. became the highest-grossing movie ever. released by the studio A24 in the space. of just 10 days. This is the studio that.

released films like Everything. Everywhere All at Once and Marty. Supreme, and Backrooms lapped them like. it was nothing. But it's not just that these films are. making money, it's also who's going to. see them. These are huge, huge hits with. Gen Z. And talking to people in. Hollywood, executives, producers, directors, all sorts of people over the. last several years, the number one. anxiety I keep hearing is how do we get. young people to care about the movies? >> Right. And for years now it's become.

almost a cliché, I think, to hear that. moviegoing is dead, that young people. just don't go to the theaters. This. seems to disprove that. >> It absolutely does. And you know, these. films are on track to make hundreds of. millions of dollars. Like to put that. into perspective, this is all happening. at the same time as the first Star Wars. film in 7 years, The Mandalorian and. Grogu is out in theaters, and these two. movies are making basically the exact. same amount of money. They cost.

virtually nothing compared to Star Wars, obviously. And I think what they're. proving is young audiences don't want. their parents' franchise hand-me-downs. They want a sense of investment in these. movies, and if you can make it feel like. an event to them, they absolutely will. go. >> Okay. So, with that as our premise, help. me understand how and why this is. happening. How young people are. connecting with both of these films. And. we should both acknowledge we are not.

Gen Z. I'm a millennial. I'm just living. in their world. And so I do need to. understand this. Let's start with the. first one to come out, Obsession. Just. lay out what this movie is about. >> So this is a horror movie, but it kind. of almost starts like a date movie. >> Do you ever actually like flirted with. Nikki? >> It's about a young man in his 20s. He. has a crush on his best female friend, and he can't quite tell if that crush is. reciprocated.

>> Nikki, wait. I was going [music] to ask. you. um. >> What? >> Uh. I I lost my train of thought. >> And instead of simply summoning the. courage to find out, he makes a wish on. a toy that he finds in a novelty store. And that wish is that his friend will be. as obsessed with him as he is with her. >> I wish Nikki Freeman loved me more than. anyone in the entire world. >> And unfortunately, he gets that wish. times a million. >> I love you so so so so so much.

>> Because she becomes so obsessed with him. that her fervor is unnerving. >> we were having a nice day. >> We we are we are. >> And anybody who threatens to get in the. way of what she perceives to be their. love is in real danger. >> I love you. I love you, MAX. I LOVE YOU. >> [screaming]. [music]. >> AND WE'RE GOING TO GET TO WHY THOSE. themes resonate, but I'd imagine a big. part of why this film has connected with. young audiences is that the guy who made.

it, who wrote it and directed it, is. himself in his 20s. >> Exactly, yeah. Curry Barker, the writer. and director, he's just 26. So it makes. sense that he's making a film that. speaks directly to young audiences. And. he got to start on YouTube where that. generation lives. He made this film. Obsession independently for just. $750,000. and I'm telling you that to put its. massive success into some perspective. because at this point after this last. weekend, it just crossed 265 million at.

the global box office, which is more. than 300 times that original budget. Wow. >> And young audiences just keep going and. going to it. >> Okay, I want to understand why that is. without spoiling the movie, which I. don't like horror movies generally, but. I found it both terrifying and extremely. compelling. What has made Gen Z come out. in these numbers? What makes it an event. for them? >> That is the big question that everybody. in Hollywood is asking, why? And it.

isn't just that the movie is effective. as a horror film, though it is. I think. a lot of it has to do with the fact that. it is grappling with, you know, Gen Z. mores, the things that this younger. generation is obsessed with, ideas of. consent and fear about relationships, anxiety over whether people like you or. not. It doesn't do that in a didactic. way. That's all just underneath the. surface and it means that you can go see. this film with your friends or talk. about it with them on social media and.

people are going to have different. interpretations. I think that the film. walks a really smart tightrope and. there's things that you want to dig into. after you've seen it a first or even a. second or third time. >> Right, it plays on this idea that dating. and relationships and sex can be scary, you know, anxiety provoking at a very. deep level. Talk about how this film is. being consumed because there is such a.

high demand to see it in the theater. >> Well, I think that's part of the reason. why even in this nobody knows anything. era of Hollywood movie making, horror. still continues to do well, especially. with young audiences. There really isn't. anything like that feeling of being with. an audience, feeling them get scared, and feeling them react. However, the. audience for Gen Z is not simply who's. in the theater with them, it's who's. online with them. >> Come with me and my friend Karen to. watch Obsession.

>> [music]. >> I know nothing about this movie besides. it's scary and that it's apparently. good. >> Cuz everyone's giving mixed reviews, so. come see it with us and we're going to. give you our opinions at the end. >> We've seen a lot of people who are. reacting. >> This is me and my mom before watching. Obsession. [music] We are. >> There's the before I saw Obsession, after I saw Obsession meme. >> Okay, what did you think? >> There are people in the audience. This. isn't thing something I love. >> Oh!

Oh! >> But there are people in the audience who. will film their own reactions while in. the audience. They'll be like, "Bro!". >> Yo! Bro, it genuinely got too scary, bro. I can't. >> No, that did not just happen, bro. You. know. >> You do a good bro, Kyle. >> I know. Like, honestly kind of scares me. how easily I slipped into that. But you. know, uh there's new ways of feeling like you. have to be part of that sort of thing, and I think that's why Obsession is. continuing to defy box office gravity.

because nobody wants to feel left out of. this conversation. >> [music]. >> This is a movie that really rewards. being seen multiple times because. there's additional layers to dig into. It kind of reminds me of Have you ever. heard of the term corn plating? >> I have not. Introduce me to that term, Kyle. >> [laughter]. >> So, this is a term that was invented by. the animated film Encanto, oddly enough, and it refers to that point where you're.

so far into the discourse of a movie. that people can't stop talking about. that basically no detail becomes too. small for the internet to dig into. And. they call it corn plating because there. was this meme of somebody posting the. image of a secondary character from. Encanto. and saying, "I never realized that she. was holding a plate of corn in this. scene.". >> Okay. >> That's when you know you're really. desperate for more details to dig into. when you're getting down to that plate. of corn. >> And you're saying this happened in this.

case with this movie? How did people Is. it a verb? Corn plate this movie? >> Oh, yeah. We're definitely now weeks. into release. We're at the corn plating. stage. >> Okay. >> Bear killed his cat in hopes to gain. sympathy from Nikki because he is a. covert narcissist. Let me explain. >> There are people who are suggesting that. maybe our lead character is possessed by. the spirit of his dead cat. >> So, I don't think something jumps into. Nikki's body. I think she's split into. two. >> Just like this. >> There are people that are analyzing the.

strange possessed movements of our. female lead. >> And immediately as a writer, I was like, "No, absolutely not." Like they are. technically not the same thing. They are. not the same genre because romance as a. genre. >> They're really going deep on the themes. and motifs of the movie like it's hour. three of a creative writing class and. the students are getting punchy. And even though some of these might. strike you as reaches, I think they're. emblematic of a discussion that people. love to have on social media. They want.

to dig into the lore of a movie. And if. they can put forth a compelling enough. through line in a YouTube video, they. themselves might be able to draft off. the success of the film. >> So, basically what you're saying is that. the themes in this movie and the way. that it was consumed created so much. discourse around the film itself that it. immediately generated this very. particular Gen Z cultural moment and. therefore drove ticket sales.

>> It did and this is a Gen Z cultural. moment at the box office, the likes of. which we've never seen before. And you could be forgiven for thinking. we might not see it again because it's. so unique. And yet, 2 weeks later, [music]. lightning struck again. Another Gen Z movie defied box office. records. [music].

>> We'll be right back. Okay, Kyle, let's talk about the second. Gen Z hit, Backrooms. I also saw it, and. it also scared me a lot. What do we need to know about it? >> Obsession might have crept up on the box. office, but Backrooms took off like a. rocket. It made $80 million its first. weekend. And again, it's huge with young.

people. Like, virtually the entire. opening weekend audience was under 35. >> [music]. >> I found something. >> It's another horror movie, and it's. about people who get trapped in this. sort of liminal space universe. >> They found a place. >> These hallways that go on forever and. are governed by some sort of unknowable. dream logic. >> I've been here every night since I found. the place, and I still barely scratch.

the surface. I'll just take it slow. >> You'll see strange things, sometimes. strange figures, but also just kind of. like sickly yellow wallpaper vibes. It. has this feeling of walking to the break. room in a terrible job and never, ever. getting there. >> Oh my god. Pull me up. PULL ME UP. PULL ME UP. WHAT. DO YOU SEE? >> AND IT MAKES sense that it's connecting. with young people cuz it was made by.

one. It was made by a 20-year-old. director. >> 20 years old is just bananas. So young. >> Yes, the youngest director by far to. ever top the box office. And the. craziest part is he was actually only 17. when he was signed by A24 to make this. movie. >> It's just hard to actually believe. You. spent a lot of time with him, Kyle. Just. tell us his story. >> Uh Munch inside actually like to sit.

down this wee menu music. I think it's. going to interfere with the recording. So. Maybe we find a different person to walk. a little way. Okay, great. >> [music]. >> Yeah, his name is Kane Parsons. And of. course before I met him, I wondered who. could this guy possibly be? You know, you you might imagine some young. cinephile who's eager to get into the. Criterion closet and give you his. Letterboxd top four. And what I found is. someone quite different from that. >> I would love to work in games like at.

some point. I don't know when. Like it's. probably not right. >> This is somebody who honestly, as he'll. tell you, didn't watch a lot of films. growing up. His approach is much more. motivated by video games like Portal and. Half-Life. >> The point is Parsons does not have the. resume of your typical filmmaker. >> No, he very much doesn't. But I found. him to be incredibly unpretentious, very. thoughtful, very solid feeling. And I. could absolutely see why people would be.

willing to follow this young man into. battle. In a lot of ways, he's. self-taught. >> 2020 hit, I you know, during the. pandemic, during like online classes, I. was able to. I was like have my screen split and be. just playing around with them. >> You know, he came up on YouTube. He was. born four months after YouTube was. invented. I don't mean to scare you by. saying that. It scared me when I learned. it. But, you know, he taught himself how. to do all of this. His film school was. essentially YouTube tutorials. His. feedback from fellow students was more.

like comments on YouTube and comments on. Discord. And you can quibble with. whether that's an acceptable substitute. for an actual film school, but you can't. beat the free tuition. >> And then so I, you know, started trying. to figure out how to do 3D in After. Effects and Blender wasn't quite on my. radar at the time. >> So, he taught himself how to use. Blender, which is a free visual effects. software. And he made his original short, Backrooms Found Footage, which ended up. getting, I think it's now at 80 million. views.

>> It sounds like this guy is just a total. self-starter. I mean, he literally. teaches himself on YouTube. Is that why the thing he makes goes so. incredibly viral? >> That's part of it, but also he was. basing this web series on something that. had already gone viral. It's called a. creepypasta, basically a scary meme that. the internet [snorts] finds and builds. upon, sort of like. a collective creative writing project, or maybe like the online version of. telling spooky stories around a.

campfire. There's an original Backrooms. image that got posted on 4chan of this. decrepit department store. It's got. creepy yellow fluorescent lighting. It. feels run down in that kind of abandoned. mall kind of way. >> Mhm. >> And people would write sort of short. stories that were based on this image, imagining what might be just down the. hallway, if there's something even more. terrifying. So, what Kane Parsons did is he was.

inspired by the lore that had already. been created, but he made his own. offshoot. >> Hello? Is someone there? >> Found footage of a guy being lost in the. Backrooms, but what's really startling. when you watch this is not just how, you. know, smartly made it is, it's the fact. that it was made by one person, that he. did all of these special effects, that. he made this location in this free. software.

These are special effects made by a. teenager that outclass almost everything. that we see on big screens these days. >> So, Parson's is adapting IP in a sense. I mean, maybe not in the traditional. sense, but this Backrooms story is. something that Gen Z is already. iterating on and engaging with. >> Yeah, and he continued to iterate on it. long before he made this film. He made a. few dozen installments of his Backrooms.

series for YouTube that has recurring. characters, an eerie corporation that. gets involved, and what really impressed. me and surprised me, to be honest, is. that he was perfectly happy there. You. know, this is somebody who came up on. YouTube as his primary means of. expression, but also the primary thing. he would watch. The idea of making a. movie, you know, though he wasn't. opposed to it, wasn't the be-all end-all. goal. You know, as he told me, he got a.

perfectly adequate level. of creative satisfaction and financial. compensation from staying on YouTube. >> So, why did he decide to make this a. feature film then? >> Well, at first he didn't want to. He was. extremely skeptical even when he was. getting all of these amazing offers. within weeks of posting his first video. because he'd seen it before. >> to drive this is is something that I. cared about like supremely with of like, you know, making sure that it doesn't. get away from. uh.

you know, its origins and it doesn't. become like American Horror Story is did. a Backrooms episode and it's everything. >> Did they? >> Yeah, and it's everything that like it. shouldn't be. Like it fundamentally. fails. >> Uh-huh. >> He had seen out of touch Hollywood. producers take something that got big on. the internet and in the big screen. translation lose everything about it. that made it appealing to his. generation. >> There needs to be a. respect to the material that already. exists and respect to the people online. who are already there for the material.

and the understanding that it's. you know, there's an elevated aspect to. it beyond just like turning it into a. slasher haunted house like. uh flick with you know, it's. >> So, he really resisted for a long time. It took the right arrangement of people. including A24, which is probably the. most youth focused studio there is, but. also Kane had his own idea of how he. wanted to approach this. He didn't want. this to be an adaptation or a remake. He. considers this to be a super-sized. installment of the series that he.

already had going on for years. And. that's exactly what he's made and. because of the success of it, I presume. that we're going to see a lot more from. this series going forward. >> And do you think that what has been so. compelling about this movie is that a. bunch of young people basically are. excited to see something that they. watched on YouTube for a really long. time on the big screen? Is it just that? >> I think that's a large part of it. I. think he speaks in a visual language. that a lot of young people recognize. from video games, especially.

first-person shooters. These really. prolonged takes, that anxiety over what. might be just around the corner of a. very long hallway. But also there's a. lot of other ways that you can parse. this if if you allow me to corn plate a. little bit. >> Mhm. Please. >> I think that there is there's a creeping. fear of uh you know, AI simulating us in. ways that that don't actually resemble. what the human mind produces. Parsons. been not shy about his perspective on AI.

during this press tour. He said that if. he could stop generative AI with a snap. of his fingers, he would do so. And I. you see that in the backrooms, where. whatever this, you know, little pocket. universe is doing, it just doesn't feel. quite right. It feels like somebody. who's trying to get us and doing us. wrong. >> Just to step back, Kyle, what should we. make of these two huge successes? I. could see the argument that, you know,

maybe this is just a flash in the pan. and we should not read too much into it, you know, from an industry perspective. But is it indicative of some broader. shift in the consumer behavior of Gen Z. when it comes to the movies, when it. comes to the theaters? >> I think it absolutely is and it's. undeniable. Based on the strength of. these two movies, it proves that young. people do want to go to the movie. theater. You just have to give them a. reason. You have to make it feel like an. event. It might not be an automatic.

thing like it was, you know, in in. previous generations, where they'll just. go on a Friday and decide what to see. once they get to the theater. They want. to go see specific movies, but they. absolutely do want to go and they'll go. back once, twice, three times if you. give them something that's worth. discussing. >> Is the premise there underneath what. you're saying that Hollywood hasn't been. giving them a reason thus far? >> Hollywood's been giving them. hand-me-downs, you know? Do you want to.

wear all the clothes that, you know, your your dad or mom or even. grandparents gave you? >> Mhm. >> Yeah, Star Wars is a franchise that. started in the 1970s. Another film that. we've got out right now, Masters of the. Universe, which is underperforming. That's based on He-Man toys from the. '80s. If you didn't grow up with those. properties, you might not understand the. fervor with which an older generation. would greet them and you're certainly. not going to rush out to the theater to. see them [snorts] when you could go to. Obsession or Backrooms again, films made. by your generation for your generation.

>> So what is the lesson then for Hollywood. from these two movies? If there is. obviously a huge desire to replicate. this success, what's the road map that this offers? >> That's the million-dollar question, and. that is the question that everybody is. asking each other, and they're asking. me. I was at the premiere of Toy Story 5. this past week, you know, a film based. on massive IP, and it's going to be a. big blockbuster. But, at the same time, that's not what people wanted to talk.

about at the after-party. They wanted to. talk about Obsession and Backrooms. I. was just also recently interviewing. Emily Blunt, who stars in Steven. Spielberg's new film Disclosure Day, and. the most animated she got during the. whole interview is when we talked about. Backrooms and Obsession and this. cultural moment. I think it is exciting. to executives, to producers, to talent. to see that young people still want to. carry on this tradition of going to see. movies, especially when they have so. many options available to them. They.

have TikTok, they have streaming. services. So, if you can craft a. compelling case, if you can say this is. worth experiencing with your fellow. moviegoers, this is worth actually. leaving your house to go do, I think. young people want to. You know, both. these films were made for under $10. million. Obsession was made for under $1. million. So, it doesn't cost a lot, and the. dividends can be so great when you hit. >> So, suddenly, somehow, the future of.

Hollywood looks brighter. kind of thanks to YouTube. >> And truly, who would have thought? But, let me be clear, you know, this isn't. the end of corporate IP, this isn't the. end of major film franchises. You've got. a Spider-Man movie about to come out. You've got Toy Story 5. But, still, at. the same time, there's a moment. happening that can't be ignored. It. can't be swept under the rug. Both. Obsessions and Backrooms, they're these. really sharp, provocative visions from. young and talented filmmakers. They. definitely could not have been made by.

Hollywood's old guard, and I think. that's the big lesson to draw from here. Because the enormous, staggering, record-breaking popularity of these. movies suggests that this is something. these audiences have been waiting for. >> [music]. [music]. >> Well, Kyle, thank you so much. >> Thank you for having me, Natalie, and I. hope having to see these two movies.

didn't traumatize you too terribly. >> Not too bad. >> [music]. [music]. [music]. >> We'll be right back.

>> Here's what else you need to know today. The US and Iran have signed a framework. agreement ending their months-long war, but neither side published the deal's. full text. The immediate scope was focused [music]. on ending military attacks and allowing. tankers to begin moving freely through. the Strait of Hormuz, which [music]. President Trump said could happen as. soon as Friday. But even though Trump said the strait. would open without tolls, [music].

Iran said on Monday that it intended to. charge fees for unspecified services. rendered in the strait. [music]. The net effect could add a new expense. and complications for commercial ships. that need [music] to pass through the. waterway. >> [music]. >> And. >> Donald Trump isn't just coming after me. because of my mean tweets. He's coming after me because I'm. considering [music]. running for president. >> In a video on Monday, California. Governor Gavin Newsom said that federal.

agents had been questioning his and his. wife's friends and associates, [music]. describing the inquiry as politically. motivated. >> They're demanding records. [music]. They're abusing the grand jury process, digging through years and years [music]. of random documents. >> The full scope of any investigation. remains unclear, but Newsom's aides. [music] say that it appears to focus on. his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. >> Someone who has done nothing wrong other. >> [music]. >> than having the temerity to advocate for.

what she believes in. >> A person familiar with the matter told. [music] The Times that multiple federal. investigations were underway related to. the governor, including one looking at. his wife's finances, >> [music]. >> but said they'd been initiated by. federal law enforcement officials in. California, not by officials [music] in. Washington. Today's episode [music] was produced by.

Alex Stern and Eric Krupke with help. from Mooj Zadie and Ricky Novetsky. It. was edited by Brendan Klinkenberg. [music]. with help from Michael Benoist. and contains music by Rowan Nemi Stow, Marion Lozano, and Alicia [music] B. Toot. Our theme music is by Wonderly. This episode was engineered by Chris. Wood. [music]. >> [music].

>> That's it for The Daily. I'm Natalie. [music] Kitroeff. See you tomorrow.