Spellbinding murder mystery Martha Is Dead is getting a film adaptation

Blurring reality, superstition, and the tragedy of war.

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4 mins read

I can honestly say I didn’t see this one coming! Martha Is Dead developer LKA and publisher Wired Productions are collaborating with Swedish film production company Studios Extraordinaires to create a film adaption of the chilling video game. I am extremely excited to see how this plays out, as the game received a lot of attention yet still remains relatively unknown. A good film adaptation could bring it a lot of new players. LKA clearly pours its soul into their titles, and the more people that experience them the better.

I spent months looking forward to Martha Is Dead, but when I tried to review the game I couldn’t – it was just too too much for my poor old Xbox One to handle. This was patched later on, but I’ve been waiting to return to the game until I have an Xbox Series; the PlayStation versions are censored, and I’m not interested in that. Regardless, I’ve remained a huge fan of the Italian developer. Before Martha Is Dead, LKA developed The Town of Light, which follows a girl with schizophrenia who is exploring the asylum that imprisoned her while she was a teenager. Martha Is Dead and The Town of Light are very similar: it’s all about tragedy, exploration, and atmosphere. And both will stay with you a long time: The Town of Light was released in 2017 and I’m still thinking about it or talking about it every couple of months.

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Martha Is Dead is set in the Italian countryside during 1944 when war was ravaging the region. The game blends the lines between reality, superstition, and the tragedy of war. A family that includes two twin sisters lives on a farm. One of the twins, Martha, is found drowned and desecrated on the shores of the nearby lake. Afterwards, Giulia – the remaining twin – becomes ensnared in a chilling mystery. Photography is a huge part of the game, and I’m interested to see if/how it is incorporated at all into the film.

“Every element of Martha Is Dead was created with extraordinary precision and care. The narrative’s complexity was meticulously planned, visualized, and even shaped with a cinematic quality in mind,” says Luca Dalcò, Founder and Director of LKA, and writer and designer of Martha Is Dead, in a press release. “Bringing this to life as a film is a dream come true.”

A screenshot from Martha Is Dead (the game). It shows the lake, and up close to the camera is the dead, dirty body of a young woman in white.

“Martha Is Dead is a narrative masterpiece, expertly weaving a spellbinding murder mystery from a young woman’s perspective in a way that’s never been done before,” says André Hedetoft and Andreas Troedsson of Studios Extraordinaires. “We’re eager to bring this haunting tale to life, offering both fans and newcomers a cinematic tour-de-force, while staying true to the game’s soul-stirring essence.”

Developed by LKA and published by Wired Productions, Martha Is Dead (the game) is available now for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One. I’d highly recommend playing it on a newer system – the graphics can be quite breathtaking and the more power behind it, the better it will run.

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Lindsay picked up an NES controller for the first time at the age of 6 and instantly fell in love. She began reviewing GBA games 20 years ago and quickly branched out from her Nintendo comfort zone. She has has developed a great love of life sims and FMV titles. For her, accessibility is one of the most important parts of any game (but she also really appreciates good UI).

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