Mouthwashing Is Getting a Movie From Jennifer's Body Director Karyn Kusama
Kills 99.9% of germs.
Mouthwashing, the indie horror game that made a lot of us scared of a cargo hold full of mouthwash, is becoming a movie. Sony has picked up the film rights, and Karyn Kusama, who directed Jennifer's Body and The Invitation, is attached to direct it at Sony's Screen Gems (Cosmic Book News, citing Deadline).
Developer Wrong Organ confirmed the news on X. "The rumors are true," the studio wrote, adding, "The Tulpar journey goes on, we hope it continues to hurt" (Inven Global). (That's the most Mouthwashing way to announce anything.)
Who is making the Mouthwashing movie?
Kusama will direct from a script by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who also wrote her films The Invitation and Destroyer (Cosmic Book News). Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng are producing through their Crooked Highway banner, which has a deal with Screen Gems (Inven Global). Derrickson and Cargill are the team behind Sinister and The Black Phone, so this one has serious horror credentials.
Kusama also earned two Emmy nominations for directing Yellowjackets, which is another story about a stranded group falling apart (Cosmic Book News).
What is Mouthwashing about?
The game follows five crew members stranded on the Tulpar, a doomed space freighter, after a crash. Supplies are running out, and the only cargo on board is mouthwash. As paranoia grows, the story jumps back and forth in time while you piece together what really happened (Cosmic Book News). Swedish studio Wrong Organ made it, and CRITICAL REFLEX published it on PC in September 2024 (Gematsu).
How big is Mouthwashing?
Very big for a small indie game. According to Deadline, it has sold close to a million copies, holds an 88 on Metacritic and won Best Narrative and Players' Choice at the Horror Game Awards. Videos about it have also racked up close to a billion views on TikTok (Cosmic Book News).
It just reached consoles, too. Mouthwashing launched on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and Switch on October 29, and it's on Game Pass (Gematsu).
There's no cast, story details or release window yet. My read is that Kusama is a great fit. Jennifer's Body and The Invitation are both about people slowly realizing something is very wrong, and that's basically Mouthwashing in one sentence. The hard part will be keeping the game's strange, low-poly dread on a big screen (and making mouthwash scary for a whole new audience).
More movie coverage is right here.
Images are official screenshots from Mouthwashing, from Wrong Organ and CRITICAL REFLEX.
