After successfully relaunching the Resident Evil franchise with Zach Cregger’s video game adaptation, Sony is now setting its sights on another game to adapt.
The studio has teamed with Scott Derrickson, the horror filmmaker behind The Black Phone and Sinister movies, to bring a movie version of the critically acclaimed psychological horror game Mouthwashing to the big screen.
The studio has acquired the feature film rights to Mouthwashing, the game developed by Sweden-based Wrong Organ and published by Critical Reflex, with Derrickson producing alongside C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng under their Crooked Highway banner. Crooked Highway has a producing deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to produce feature films for Screen Gems.
Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay have been tapped to pen the script while Karyn Kusama is attached to direct. The trio previously worked together on the 2015 psychological horror thriller The Invitation and the 2018 Nicole Kidman thriller Destroyer.
Mouthwashing follows five crew members stranded aboard the space freighter Tulpar, which crash lands on an asteroid. Dwindling supplies, isolation and mounting paranoia expose the fractures between the crew.
The first-person psychological horror game combines surreal imagery with a nonlinear narrative that explores responsibility, denial and the consequences of unchecked power.
It earned critical acclaim when it first launched on PC in 2024, garnering an 88 score on Metacritic and “overwhelmingly positive” user reviews on Steam. It also won in the best narrative and players’ choice categories at the Horror Game Awards, as well as best hidden gem at the New York Game Awards. The game has since sold nearly one million units on PC.
The game has built an international following beyond just gamers. Per the studio, content surrounding Mouthwashing has generated 63 million views on YouTube and nearly one billion views on TikTok.
Mouthwashing launches today on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Xbox on PC, and will be available through Game Pass on console and PC.
Kusama, who recently directed episodes of Yellowjackets and The Terror, is repped by WME, Black Bear and Felker McGinnis. Manfredi and Hey, whose credits include Clash of the Titans and the Ride Along films, are repped by UTA and Alan Grodin.
Derrickson last directed The Black Phone 2 and The Gorge, both of which were released in 2025. He and Crooked Highway are repped by by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Ziffren Brittenham.
English (US) ·