Movie · 2026 · Horror, Mystery · 1h 31m · NR · English
Curator score: 0.1/10 (22.7K ratings)
Alone with the dead.
Overview
Rebecca Owens, a recent mortuary science graduate takes a night shift job at River Fields Mortuary. Initially, the job seems straightforward — embalming bodies, completing paperwork, and keeping things tidy. But once Rebecca starts working the night shift, things take a dark turn.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.1/10
IMDb: 3.9/10
Letterboxd: 1.53/5
TMDB: 5.5/10
Director
Jeremiah Kipp
Production
Epic Pictures Group, Creativity Capital, Dread, Traverse Terror
Cast
Willa Holland, Paul Sparks, John Adams, Mark Steger, Shelly Gibson, Emily Bennett, Keena Ferguson
Where to watch
AMC+, Philo, Shudder
Curator Review
Verdict
A moody mortuary-set horror premise with some creepy imagery, but the execution appears clumsy, repetitive, and undercooked. The strongest reactions point to weak acting, messy plotting, overuse of jump-scare cues, and a lack of genuine tension, making it hard to recommend except to completists of indie game adaptations or mortuary-horror concepts.
Best for
Viewers curious about video game adaptations regardless of quality
Fans of mortuary, embalming, and funeral-home horror settings
Horror completists who enjoy low-budget creature-feature aesthetics
Skip if
You want coherent plotting and strong character writing
You dislike obvious jump scares and heavy-handed sound design
You prefer slow-burn dread with payoff over checklist-style horror beats
You are looking for polished performances and atmospheric restraint
Overview
The Mortuary Assistant has a premise that should work almost on instinct: a night shift in a funeral home, a vulnerable new employee, and the possibility that the dead are not staying put. That setup gives it a built-in mood of isolation and bodily unease, and the mortuary setting is still one of horror’s most reliably unsettling spaces.
Worth noting
But the film seems to squander that advantage. The prevailing response is that it leans on predictable scares, noisy editing, and a story that feels more assembled than developed. Instead of building dread, it reportedly keeps announcing itself, which drains the atmosphere and makes the runtime feel longer than it is.
Bottom line
There are flashes of the kind of pulpy, demon-in-the-dark energy that can make indie horror fun, but not enough consistency to overcome the rough edges. If you are here for a genuinely creepy mortuary thriller, there are stronger options. If you are here for a messy, game-adaptation curio, this may still have some accidental appeal.
Top Letterboxd reviews
cob (0.5★) · 879 likes
unrelease this shit right now 🔥🔥🔥
Matt! (1★) · 495 likes
A 90 minute movie that’s 70 minutes too long. Evil Dead meets The Autopsy of Jane Doe except with a dumb dumb convoluted video game plot and some of the most offensively bad acting I’ve ever seen. Nothing makes sense. Like, even slightly. Willa Holland, I love you, but…it’s gonna be a no from me, dawg. Abysmal. Paul Sparks might’ve been sleepwalking the whole film, no joke.
Ed (2★) · 454 likes
This was just normal closing shift for a Walmart employee
brenprescott (0.5★) · 398 likes
sees demon
slowly unbuttons shirt
cuhtarina (0.5★) · 333 likes
having played the game, this film was ass, respectfully. everything was so in your face and predictable that it felt less like a horror movie and more like a checklist of horror clichés. goofy sound FX, terrible editing, and a script that doesn’t make sense. nothing made me flinch (i am easily scared btw). the film was scared of silence so it just kept throwing music at every scene hoping you’d feel something.
with their script, this could’ve been a… more