Mouthwashing is getting a feature film adaptation from Sony and I need all of you to be normal about it whenever it comes out
Sony Pictures has acquired the feature film rights to the horror game Mouthwashing, with Karyn Kusama set to direct. The adaptation matters because the game’s story depends heavily on its first-person perspective and player interaction, raising questions about how its themes will translate to film.
Scott Derrickson is among the producers, while Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay are attached as writers; Kusama, Manfredi and Hay have worked together on The Invitation and Destroyer. The game explores corporate exploitation and sexual assault, and its creator’s uneasy response to parts of the fandom adds to concerns about how the film will handle its subject matter.
In short
- Sony has acquired the film rights to Mouthwashing.
- Karyn Kusama is attached to direct.
- The game’s perspective and serious themes may be challenging to adapt.
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The case for
A film adaptation could bring Mouthwashing’s story and themes to a wider audience, while Kusama and her writing collaborators have experience with unsettling, character-driven films. Cinema can use its own visual and narrative techniques to convey dread and powerlessness, so changing the perspective need not mean losing the game’s impact.
The case against
The game’s first-person perspective and player interaction are central to how its story creates unease, and a film may struggle to reproduce that experience without flattening it. Its treatment of corporate exploitation and sexual assault also calls for care, particularly given the creator’s unease about parts of the fandom; a poorly judged adaptation could distort those themes or invite readings the original did not intend.
Explained simply
Mouthwashing is an independent horror game in which players experience events from a first-person perspective, making choices and uncovering what has happened aboard a stranded spaceship. Its story follows the crew of a cargo ship after a crash leaves them isolated and short of supplies.
The game uses the crew’s situation to explore power, responsibility and harm, including corporate exploitation and sexual assault. Turning it into a film means adapting a story shaped by what players see and do into a fixed screen narrative.
Sony Pictures is the film studio behind the project, with Karyn Kusama directing and Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay writing; Scott Derrickson is among the producers. Kusama, Manfredi and Hay have worked together on the films The Invitation and Destroyer.