Quick TakeArticle at a glance
- Sony Pictures has acquired film rights to Mouthwashing, Wrong Organ's acclaimed 2024 horror game, with Jennifer's Body director Karyn Kusama attached to direct.
- Scott Derrickson, the director of Sinister and The Black Phone, is producing through his Crooked Highway banner alongside C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng.
- Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who wrote Kusama's The Invitation and Destroyer, are penning the script. No release date has been set; it's Kusama's first film since 2018.
Mouthwashing, the PS1-style psychological horror game that became one of 2024’s biggest indie breakouts, is becoming a movie. Sony Pictures has acquired the film rights, with Jennifer’s Body director Karyn Kusama set to direct and Sinister filmmaker Scott Derrickson producing — a pairing of two of horror’s more distinctive voices behind a game built almost entirely on dread and a slow, inevitable collapse.
Who’s Making the Mouthwashing Movie
Kusama is directing from a screenplay by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who previously wrote her 2015 thriller The Invitation and 2018’s Destroyer. It’s Kusama’s first film since Destroyer, and her first horror project since 2015. Derrickson is producing with longtime collaborators C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng under their Crooked Highway banner — the same team behind The Black Phone and its sequel.
Sony Pictures picked up the rights from developer Wrong Organ, a Swedish studio, and publisher Critical Reflex, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news on October 29, 2026. Bloody Disgusting confirmed the deal the same day.
What Mouthwashing Is About
Released on Steam in September 2024, Mouthwashing follows the five-person crew of the cargo freighter Tulpar after a deliberate crash strands them deep in space with no chance of rescue. The first-person game combines surreal imagery with a nonlinear timeline, slowly revealing how denial and one crew member’s unchecked power turned a routine hauling job into a horror story.
It’s light on jump scares and heavy on psychological dread — part of why it still holds a 95% positive rating across more than 25,000 Steam reviews as of October 2026.
When Will the Mouthwashing Movie Come Out
No release date has been announced, and the project is still in early development with a director and writers attached but no cast. Industry reporting around the deal suggests a 2028 release at the earliest, which tracks with how long Kusama and Derrickson’s past projects have typically taken from announcement to theaters.
Mouthwashing is the latest sign that horror games are becoming one of Hollywood’s more reliable adaptation pipelines — it follows the same pattern as Kojima Productions turning Death Stranding into the animated series Isolations, and it’s part of a broader push, including Xbox’s new XP division built specifically to turn games into movies and theme parks. If horror crossovers like this are your thing, we’ve also ranked the best horror video games based on movies and TV.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is directing the Mouthwashing movie?
Karyn Kusama, director of Jennifer’s Body and The Invitation, is attached to direct. It will be her first film since 2018’s Destroyer.
Who is producing the Mouthwashing movie?
Scott Derrickson, director of Sinister and The Black Phone, is producing through his Crooked Highway banner with C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng. Sony Pictures holds the film rights.
Who wrote the Mouthwashing movie script?
Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who previously wrote Kusama’s The Invitation and Destroyer, are writing the screenplay.
When does the Mouthwashing movie come out?
No release date has been set. The project is in early development, and reports suggest 2028 at the earliest.
What is the Mouthwashing video game about?
Mouthwashing is a 2024 psychological horror game by Wrong Organ about the five-person crew of the freighter Tulpar, stranded after a deliberate crash, told through a nonlinear, surreal narrative about denial and unchecked power.
