Isn’t it ironic? Close on the heels of the announcement that legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who ranks up there as one of our oldest active directors at 83, is embracing AI as part of his filmmaking process, a representative of the latest generation of filmmakers has stepped up to say that he is not a fan of AI. That’s 20-year-old Kane Parsons, young enough to be Scorsese’s great-grandson, whose debut feature film Backrooms is currently proving to be a box office hit.

What did Kane Parsons say about AI?

During an interview with The Australian, Parsons said (with thanks to our friends at Bloody Disgusting for providing the text), “I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people. If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.“

He went on to say, “What interests me more is interrogating it artistically. We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That’s become part of our visual reality. To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot. I’m interested in using that iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. I definitely want to explore it further in future projects.“

He’s speaking out against AI because “there’s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.“

So if you’re in the anti-AI boat with Parsons, consider heading out and supporting his movie!

What is Backrooms about?

Backrooms went into production around eleven months ago with Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) heading up the cast. They’re joined by  Mark Duplass (Creep), Finn Bennett (True Detective), Lukita Maxwell (Shrinking), and Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap).

Parsons directed the film from a screenplay by Will Soodik. Backrooms is based on a series of viral videos Parsons released through his YouTube channel Kane Pixels. If you were to splice those videos together they would reach feature length, but the feature version of Backrooms is something entirely new. The story centers on Clark, a furniture store owner, who discovers a strange secret doorway in his shop’s basement. When he goes missing in a seemingly endless dimension of liminal spaces, his therapist, Mary, ventures into the unknown to save him, even as her own grip on reality bends.

A24 and Chernin Entertainment co-financed the film. Osgood Perkins and Roberto Patino produced alongside Shawn Levy and Dan Levine of 21 Laps and James Wan and Michael Clear of Atomic Monster. Alayna Glasthal oversaw the project for Atomic Monster, while the company’s Judson Scott executive produced.

Have you seen, or will you be seeing, Backrooms? What do you think of what Kane Parsons had to say about AI? Let us know by leaving a comment below.