New horror movie from makers of Backrooms gets exciting update from star

The update comes as the now-in-cinemas Backrooms is shattering box office records.

Set for a 2026 release, Perkins' latest horror is titled The Young People. Plot details are being kept under wraps for the movie, though an early synopsis states: "Two school friends drift apart as one starts exhibiting disturbing behaviour, turning their relationship sinister."

Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Nico Parker (The Last of Us) will play the school friends in the film.

Some have speculated, given its title and a snippet of the script released by its distributor Neon, that The Young People may pay homage to the work of the writer H.P. Lovecraft, who created the sub-genre of cosmic horror (also known as Lovecraftian horror).

Lovecraft's work often makes references to the "Great Old Ones". These are described by scholars of the author's work as a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a death-like sleep.

Alongside Parker and Tung, the cast of The Young People includes Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), as well as Brendan Hines (The Tick), Cush Jumbo (Criminal Record), Heather Graham (Boogie Nights), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), Lily Collias (Cape Fear), and Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk).

JOE recently spoke to Maslany about her excellent new comedy-thriller Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, which is streaming on Apple TV+ now. You can watch that conversation in full by clicking play on the video below.

Given that she is a frequent collaborator of Osgood Perkins, starring in his previous two movies, The Monkey and Keeper, we asked the actress (at about 3.35 in the video) about The Young People.

When we said we were really excited for the 2026 horror, Maslany replied: "I think you'll love it because I think it's very Oz, that movie, just from the little bits that I've seen of it so far.

"The story feels very Oz. The visuals are gorgeous. The characters... everybody's just very funny and strange in it.

"I'm such a fan of his, too, and so I get excited to watch his movies and see what he's done and the music that he's chosen. He's just such an incredible voice."

Produced by Phobos, the same production company behind the currently in-cinemas Backrooms, The Young People has not been given an exact release date yet, but is set to arrive in theatres sometime this year.