'MORTUARY ASSISTANT' FALTERS IN ITS OWN DARKNESS

By Katelyn Nelson

April 24, 2026

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Video game adaptations seem like they'd be easy pickings for film, right? All the elements are there, after all, and even a more or less straightforward copy is destined for success when done right, even more so than an adaptation of a written work. Indeed, the aughts trend of video game adaptations of such heavy hitters as SILENT HILL and RESIDENT EVIL prove that, when done well, these stories can have an enduring legacy that spans formats and years of time. Recently, we've seen an uptick in video game to film adaptations across genres. From the MINECRAFT movie to the more recent SUPER MARIO GALAXY, to IRON LUNG, we're in another age of bringing games to screen. How successful it is remains to be seen.

Jeremiah Kipp throws his hat into the proverbial ring with Shudder's recent release, THE MORTUARY ASSISTANT. Based on the popular game of the same name, it follows Rebecca Owens (Willa Holland), a newly hired assistant at a Connecticut mortuary with a troubled past of her own, as she discovers through a particularly harrowing night shift that she might be possessed by a demon. The only way to deal with it? Uncover and dispose of any demons inhabiting the corpses as she prepares and embalms them. As her encounters progress in intensity, we're shown more about her troubled past and the personal demons that haunt her.

On it's face, this should be an interesting and potentially nightmarish journey. In fact, the game itself is often praised for its atmosphere despite mixed input regarding its technical aspects. With that in mind, it would make sense for the film to lean into the atmosphere and keep us on edge just as well as its source material, potentially even averting the technical glitches. And to a point, MORTUARY ASSISTANT does succeed—for about the first 30 minutes. For the most part, ASSISTANT is visually satisfying. When the film works, it works well. When it leans into the tension inherent in the environment and the job, not to mention the stakes, it is akin to another mortuary-based heavy hitter, AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE. If it had managed to keep the momentum of the opening the whole way through, ASSISTANT might have been destined for a spot on the game adaptation wall of fame with the likes of SILENT HILL and RESIDENT EVIL. Even the first appearance of the creature we are shown from the poster is satisfyingly unsettling. Unfortunately, rather than keeping the pace, the film fairly quickly falls apart, and for a few confounding reasons.

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On one hand, it feels like there is not quite enough in the meat of MORTUARY ASSISTANT to make sense without some familiarity with the game. On the other, it feels like there is entirely too much bursting at the film’s own seams. In the game, there are several potential endings. It enhances replay-ability and ultimately weaves itself together successfully into one cohesive story. Adapting a game with multiple endings seems like a behemoth challenge destined to disappoint at least one fan or another, in part because it is virtually impossible to bring that to screen and avoid confusion. It’s a trap of adaptation, and one ASSISTANT unfortunately falls into. Part of the reason it feels simultaneously like too much and not enough to make sense is because it attempts to lean into the gory details of the story—bringing at least three of the five endings into the film and focusing camerawork on what is tantamount to and aligned with pretty graphic self harm—rather than fleshing out the story of the game. There is, in fact, a whole chunk of the core of the story missing entirely from the film that makes certain elements simply not make any sense. Centering the multiple endings, rather than heightening the tension, defangs the film of its scares. The process of exorcising the demons from the bodies is the same no matter how often Rebecca does it, so every time we reach an ending and she has to start over, it feels a little like an unsuccessful groundhog day style approach. By the time the actual story progresses, we’re used to what started out as something harrowing, and ultimately we’re left with something difficult and unsatisfying to follow.

Audiences familiar with the game will likely enjoy the adaptation a little more than the average layperson coming to it on its own merit. It doesn’t feel strong enough to stand on its own two feet, mostly because it seems like it wants to lean so much more into the graphic violence than any real cohesive semblance of story. Including the missing element from Rebecca’s backstory in the film would likely have solved some of the confusion issues and made for a more robust film. Instead what we’re left with is so odd it almost takes you out of the experience entirely, if you’re approaching it on its own.

I would, in fact, love to hear what those who have played the game the whole way through think of the film. But that does not take away from the fact that any strong adaptation of any source material must present itself with enough information from its source to make sense even if you have never even heard of the source material. Either that, or create something entirely new within the source’s universe. Otherwise, you’re likely destined for a mess. Nevertheless, there are some elements that work, and I am a firm believer that everything is worth a shot at least once.

Should you decide to open the Mortuary door, it is streaming now on Shudder. Should you wish to explore more of Jeremiah Kipp’s work, I recommend another Shudder streamer, SLAPFACE.

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