Behind the ScenesJune 18, 2026· 5 min read
Is THE POOLS Based on the Backrooms? The Liminal Horror Lineage, Explained
A look at how THE POOLS draws from Backrooms lore, the 'Poolrooms' aesthetic, and a century of waterpark unease — without being a direct adaptation.
Short answer: THE POOLS is not an official Backrooms adaptation, but it is unmistakably part of the same liminal-horror family tree.
The 'Poolrooms' — endless sunlit tiled pools with no people in them — emerged as one of the most recognizable corners of Backrooms internet folklore. THE POOLS takes that feeling as a starting point and builds a feature-length story around it.
Where the film diverges is structure: it's a character story about a teenager trying to find a way out, not an anthology of anomalies.
Byline: THE POOLS Editorial