2024’s Best Horror Game Is Officially Getting a Film Adaptation

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Published Oct 30, 2026, 10:01 AM EDT

Willa Rowe is a contributing writer at Polygon, covering games and entertainment. She is a New York-based journalist and critic whose work has been featured in Kotaku, Digital Trends, the A.V. Club, GamesRadar+, and more. She also co-hosts the Girl Mode podcast.

Sony has picked up the rights to indie-horror darling Mouthwashing

Anya, a medic with the Pony Express, looks hopeless while bathed in the green light of sci-fi displays aboard a cargo ship.

Add Mouthwashing to the ever-growing list of games getting a TV or film adaptation. Sony has acquired the film rights to the 2024 indie psychological horror game developed by Wrong Organ and published by Critical Reflex. The news follows the huge success of Zach Cregger's Resident Evil adaptation, which Sony distributed and co-produced.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony will develop the film with Crooked Highway, the production company behind The Black Phone. Karyn Kusama (Jennifer's Body, Yellowjackets) has been tapped to direct the project from a script by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who co-wrote the script for Kusama's 2015 psychological horror film The Invitation.

This isn't Kusama's first foray into video game adaptation. She serves as an executive producer on Amazon's upcoming Life Is Strange series and will direct the first two episodes. That series recently wrapped shooting and got the seal of approval from the original game's creators.

What is Mouthwashing about?

Curly sits near an emergency display in Mouthwashing.

Released in 2024, Mouthwashing follows the five crew members of the cargo spaceship Tulpar, who are stranded in deep space with no hope of rescue after an accident seemingly caused by their unstable captain. Mouthwashing has some jump scares, but the game puts a heavy emphasis on the sense of dread that comes from being trapped in a confined space with people who may be spiraling into madness.

The game is short and focused, taking just about two and a half hours to complete. That should make it easy to faithfully adapt the game's story. If you are interested in checking out the game while waiting for the movie to get made, Mouthwashing is available now on all major platforms.

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