I quite liked that there video game Mouthwashing. It had a lot to say about how corporations take advantage of their workers, it played around with character perspective to let you in on certain narrative threads and withhold others until they’re taut enough to snap, and was short enough so that its misery didn’t outstay its welcome. What I wasn’t so fond of was much of the fandom response that came afterwards, which is why I am quite scared to say that it’s getting a movie from Sony.
As shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Sony have acquired the feature film rights to Mouthwashing, attaching names both promising and apprehension inducing to it. It’s being produced in part by Scott Derrickson, director of Sinister (which I liked well enough) and Doctor Strange (a wet fart sound of a movie). What is more interesting is that Karyn Kusama, director of the excellent cult classic Jennifer’s Body, is attached to direct. Given the game’s themes of sexual assault, which is putting it lightly, it’s nice to see a woman in the director’s seat.
YES, MOUTHWASHING MOVIE IS REALLY HAPPENING SOON™
You thought you could escape responsibility by turning off your console?
Produced by Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems and directed by Karyn Kusama.
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— Critical Reflex (@cr-games.bsky.social) October 29, 2026 at 8:17 PM
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The thing that loops me back around to fear is having Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay attached as writers; the pair have long worked together, but often on stinkers like Clash of the Titans, The Tuxedo, and R.I.P.D. At the very least the two of them and Kusama are frequent collaborators, having made The Invitation and Destroyer together (it probably helps that Hay and Kusama are married).
As with every single live action adaptation of a video game, I of course immediately feel that it is wholly unnecessary, and certainly think that’s the case for Mouthwashing. It’s a game that has minimal interactivity, much more of a walking sim than anything else. It also deeply relies on said interactivity, alongside its first-person perspective, so I’m not sure how well that would translate. And upsettingly, the game developed an uncomfortably intense fandom that has frequently treated the game’s themes as a suggestion, prioritising skits and memes above a real reckoning with what it’s doing. This leaves me afraid of a film adaptation. Perhaps I’ll log off for the day whenever it comes out.