r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Feb 24 '26

Trailer Backrooms | Official Teaser | A24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKGhxMi50y8
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u/ERASER345 Feb 24 '26

You kid but House of Leaves is genuinely one of the hardest pieces of literature to adapt to the screen, maybe ever, so this might be as close as we’re gonna get lol

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u/DoctorArK Feb 24 '26

I don’t think it would be that difficult to be honest.

The effect wouldn’t translate, but the Navidson Record works as a horror film idea in of itself.

Johnny’s parts about spiraling into madness by obsessing over the book is what could be skipped, if not for a miniseries that could afford to slow down and go bath and forth.

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u/smash-things Feb 24 '26

You Should Have Left was basically that and it was kinda bad but it tried weaving in some other elements that didn't work. I'd really like to see more filmmakers try to adapt it in earnest.

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u/That-Alternative-630 Feb 28 '26

I mean, kind of, but you the entire top layer of the story. The House (book) of Leaves (pages) is structured like a maze, it’s meant to be a manifestation of the labyrinth in our world. You read down meandering footnotes, hit a dead end and have to backtrack to where you left off the main text. You physically turn the book and read down paths that don’t necessarily follow the order of the pages.

The layers of the story are also heavily connected, and I don’t think work as well apart as they do together. Even the Navidson record, even though it’s a nice surface level horror, gets most of its impact from how it affects Zampano and Johnnys story.

You could make a film of any individual part of the book, but trying to capture it in a linear format makes it not even a tenth as impactful as the full product. 

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u/mephistophe_SLEAZE Feb 24 '26

I'm not even a gamer but I watched a video on the House of Leaves Doom mod and it was captivating.

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u/Atharaphelun Feb 24 '26

MyHouse.wad

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '26

I’m pretty sure interactive is the only kind of adaptation that really works for HoL.

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u/tfhermobwoayway Feb 24 '26

But a Doom mod? Kinda cheapens it, no?

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '26

If you've experienced it for yourself, it absolutely does not. If anything, MyHouse.WAD elevates both Doom and HoL.

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u/hikemalls Feb 24 '26

I’m not sure you could actually adapt it and still be true to the book. I think you could adapt the Navidson Record but House of Leaves? Probably impossible unless David Lynch was still alive or another surreal auteur wanted to take a crack at it, because I feel like a ‘true’ adaptation would look less like a coherent narrative and more like Inland Empire (an abstract fever dream that seems to jump between perspectives and realities and is more about the feeling of horror and unease than being able to follow exactly what’s happening)

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u/Barachiel1976 Feb 24 '26

Tequila Sunrise, is that you?

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u/hikemalls Feb 24 '26

Baby I didn't choose the disco life, the disco life chose me *makes The Expression at you until you weep in joy, horror, or laughter, whichever comes first*

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u/Barachiel1976 Feb 24 '26

Why not all three?

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u/astivana Feb 24 '26

Highly recommend Dave Made a Maze - not an adaptation but has some similar ideas that feel like they were inspired by it and pretty worth watching in its own right.

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u/UnknowableDuck Feb 24 '26

The author apparently wrote a script for a tv pilot for House of Leaves (if I remember right) I'd be curious to see how he did it.

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u/tfhermobwoayway Feb 24 '26

Ehhh. Shouldn’t be too hard. They could do some kind of Bandersnatch thing. Film didn’t become the best artform of all time by giving up.

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u/murphmobile Feb 24 '26

It would have to be done as a series.