Sony Pictures has acquired the feature-film rights to the psychological horror game Mouthwashing, setting Karyn Kusama to direct an adaptation written by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay.
The deal brings Sony together with developer Wrong Organ and publisher Critical Reflex. Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng will produce through Crooked Highway, which has a deal under Sony’s Screen Gems banner.
Although details of the movie’s storyline remain under wraps, the game provides a stark foundation for a contained psychological thriller. Mouthwashing centers on five crew members stranded aboard the space freighter Tulpar. As supplies run low, isolation and escalating paranoia expose the divisions within the group.
Presented as a first-person psychological horror experience, the game uses surreal imagery and a nonlinear narrative to examine responsibility, denial and the consequences of unchecked power. It debuted in 2024 and earned a Metacritic score of 88 while selling close to 1 million units.
The title is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Xbox on PC. It is also set to become available through Game Pass on console and PC.
A Proven Creative Team Boards the Adaptation
Kusama arrives at the project with film credits including Destroyer, The Invitation, Jennifer’s Body and Girlfight. Her work on Girlfight earned her Best Director and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
She has also received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for directing the television series Yellowjackets, on which she serves as an executive producer.
The filmmaker’s reunion with Manfredi and Hay gives the project an established creative partnership. The writing duo are frequent Kusama collaborators whose credits include The Invitation and Destroyer. Their other work includes Clash of the Titans and the Ride Along films.
On the producing side, Derrickson, Cargill and Cheng will shepherd the film under the Crooked Highway banner. The company’s existing deal with Screen Gems places the adaptation within an established Sony arrangement as the game makes the transition to the screen.
From Game Recognition to Feature Film
Mouthwashing reaches Sony after collecting both industry recognition and a substantial online following. The game won Best Narrative and Players’ Choice at the Horror Game Awards, along with Best Hidden Gem at the New York Game Awards.
Interest has also extended well beyond its sales. Content connected to Mouthwashing has generated 63 million views on YouTube and close to 1 billion views on TikTok.
Those figures, combined with its awards and near-1 million-unit sales total, give the adaptation a measurable audience before any film release details have been disclosed. At the same time, the game’s confined setting, fractured crew dynamics and nonlinear storytelling offer Kusama, Manfredi and Hay material that can be reshaped for a feature without Sony revealing how closely the movie will follow the original narrative.
Wrong Organ, the independent Stockholm, Sweden-based studio behind the game, is also developing Carcass Clad. That project is a cooperative tank horror game in which players take on the roles of Commander, Driver and Gunner as they attempt to escape a war-torn city.
ShowBiz Take
Sony’s acquisition stands out because Mouthwashing arrives with several forms of demonstrated momentum: strong sales, awards recognition and extensive activity across YouTube and TikTok. Rather than relying on awareness alone, the studio is pairing that audience with a director and screenwriting team that already has a history of working together.
The most intriguing creative question is how the film will translate the game’s first-person viewpoint, surreal presentation and nonlinear structure. With the movie’s plot still being kept under wraps, it is not yet confirmed whether the adaptation will directly retell the Tulpar crew’s ordeal or take a different approach to the source material. For now, the firm details are the rights acquisition, Kusama’s attachment to direct, Manfredi and Hay’s involvement as adapters, and Crooked Highway’s producing team.