For Kane Parsons, asking AI to make a movie is like paying a stranger to dream for you, technically impressive, maybe, but utterly pointless. As algorithms creep into writers’ rooms, concept art, and even actors’ faces and voices, Hollywood’s power brokers see efficiency, scale, and cost-cutting. Many filmmakers, however, see something else entirely: a slow erosion of the messy, human process that gives cinema its soul.

Parsons, the 20-year-old mind behind Backrooms, is one of the loudest of those voices.

In a recent interview with The Australian, Backrooms' Kane Parsons made his stance clear. He said that if he could snap his fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, he probably would. Parsons said.

“Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me,” Parsons told The Australian. For Parsons, feeding prompts into a machine does not qualify as filmmaking. He points to what’s already happening in the real world.

“We already live in a world where you walk outside, and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop.” To him, that flood of auto‑generated imagery is not innovation; it is a warning sign. Instead of using AI to generate shots or scripts, Parsons wants to turn it into something to dissect on screen.

“What interests me more is interrogating it artistically,” he said, explaining that he’s drawn to using AI’s iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. In his view, generative tools are a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot, and he definitely wants to explore it further in future projects as a subject, not a shortcut.

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That philosophy becomes even clearer when looking at the way Backrooms found its audience without relying on automation.

Backrooms stands as a direct counterpoint to the idea that filmmaking needs AI to thrive. The film, made on a modest budget of around $10 million, has turned into a major success story for A24. It became the studio’s first film to cross $100 million at the U.S. box office, transforming a niche internet concept into a widespread cultural phenomenon.

What makes that achievement remarkable is how dramatically it exceeded expectations. Early projections suggested a solid @20 dollar opening, but the film surged far beyond that, delivering an opening weekend north of $80 million. That performance positioned Parsons as the youngest filmmaker to launch a film past $100 million globally in its debut frame, a milestone that underscores the strength of his vision.

In an industry increasingly fascinated by automation, Backrooms offers a different lesson. It shows that audiences respond to authenticity, tension, and imagination when they are shaped by human hands. For Parsons, that success reinforces his belief that filmmaking’s value lies in the process itself, not in how quickly or efficiently a machine can replicate it.

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What do you think about Kane Parsons’ stance on AI in filmmaking? Let us know in the comments.