As video game adaptations go, where will ‘The Mortuary Assistant’ land?

The year 2026 might hold the record for the most horror video game adaptations released within a month-long period (don’t quote me on that). So far we’ve seen the release of Return to Silent Hill on Jan 23 and Markiplier’s adaptation of Iron Lung (2026) the following weekend on Jan 30. The former proved to be a… “less than ideal” adaptation of Silent Hill 2 (2001, 2024), managing to not only be a bad movie, but somehow misunderstanding the story of the game it’s adapting to a degree I didn’t think was possible. Meanwhile, Iron Lung (2026) knocked it out of the park, staying incredibly faithful to the game while also fleshing out its world and story in ways that both enriched the narrative and felt completely natural.

Somehow, these two horror video game adaptations released just a week apart from each other have managed to land perfectly on both ends of the video game adaptation spectrum. Now, after the Friday the 13 weekend, we’ll see where another horror video game adaptation places onto this quality spectrum.

The Mortuary Assistant, based on the 2022 video game of the same name, follows mortuary science graduate Rebecca Owens on the night shift at River Fields Mortuary. This routine job of embalming bodies alone after hours takes a dark turn when she realizes that something otherworldly is in there with her, and she’ll uncover dark secrets as she tries to survive the night. 

During a QnA on the Reddit page r/movies for The Mortuary Assistant, the game’s developer, Brian Clarke, had this to say about the collaborative process of adapting his game into a film: “It was an extremely collaborative process though I was very timid at first being a game developer and not really knowing anything about film. However, my gut instinct from the start was to let the movie people do movie things. My thought process was that they will know what works for film and I can be a guidepost for what is right for the game.”

“We had lots of calls together between myself, Jeremiah, and the script writer Tracee, where we really dug into the lore of the game and I think we found great spaces to provide new angles to things or expand on aspects that I couldn't really in the game.” In another answer, Clarke added: “I agree with Jeremiah that game adaptations are difficult but the passion and interest he had in MA made me confident we could do something special. I had such an amazing time being involved. I couldn't feel more lucky.”

Jeremiah Kipp, the film’s director, had this to say during the QnA in regards to how he became involved with the project: “I was approached by the people who distributed the game, who also made movies, and I think they saw that Brian Clarke's game has many inherent cinematic qualities - not just the way he builds the scares, but the way he builds an amazing atmosphere and mood with vivid characters who have strong story arcs. I don't think all video games should be made into films, but I felt very strongly that there was a movie to be made out of THIS particular game.”

As for whether or not you should play the game first or go into the movie blind, here’s what Kipp said: “You can go into this film either way. If you're unfamiliar with the game, you can enjoy it fully as a movie without feeling like you need to cram for a test. And if you love the game you can see it built out in narrative ways fully approved by the game's developer, who co-wrote the script and was with us every step of the way from pre production to filming to post production.”

So, where will The Mortuary Assistant land on the Video Game Adaptation Quality Spectrum? It’s clear that the people behind it are very passionate about the game, and that the game’s developer had a heavy hand in the film’s development. But whether or not the film leans more towards Return to Silent Hill or Iron Lung is to be determined. Who knows, maybe it’ll land squarely in the middle! The only way to know for sure is for you to go out and see it for yourself. 

The Mortuary Assistant is out now, only in movie theaters.