Iron Lung is a video game adaptation and horror film that is making its theatrical debut after a long journey and many different holdups in its release. The film is based on an independent video game created by David Szymanski, in which you play as a prisoner who is serving their penance by exploring an ocean of blood in a submarine called the Iron Lung. In the world of Iron Lung, humanity has experienced what is referred to as the quiet rapture, which leads to a large portion of humanity and all the stars in the universe to suddenly disappear. The game primarily sees the player guiding themselves through the ocean using only coordinates and pictures they take of their surroundings while searching for points of interest to earn their freedom. Made popular by YouTubee Markiplier, he has now adapted the game for the big screen.
I went into this film not as a life-long Markiplier fan, unlike many people who saw the film. Mark is someone whom I’ve only come around to in the last few years. I think he makes really fun content and is a seemingly good person, which is always a plus in the content creation space. I also didn’t go into this film knowing the game beyond watching some of Mark’s own playthrough. I’ve also watched some of his other YouTube short films, such as “In Space with Markiplier”. I went into this as a fan of independent films. I think that this had a positive effect on my experience.
While Iron Lung is the first time Mark has directed a traditional feature-length film, and many are calling it a debut, it wouldn’t be considered his first time in the director’s chair. Like his other short films, he also wrote the script, was the lead actor, and was one of the central editors. I found there to be positives and negatives to this. With Mark being involved in all the aspects of this, you can feel the passion dripping from every aspect of this film. I do look forward to potentially seeing Mark direct more features. I think his vision as a director worked really well in this project.
That being said, the film itself is a bit of a mixed bag. While I found the film to be very good, even bordering on greatness, I understand some of the issues it has. The pace is its biggest downfall; the game has a rather loose plot that seems like it may need to be stretched to fill a feature-length film, especially when its run time is just over two hours. Some of the middle act does drag a little bit. But I’d like to be clear that I didn’t find the film boring, as I’ve heard others say in reviews. I just found the pace and progression of the story to not be even across the film’s three acts.
Another strike against the film is the inconsistency in the acting. Mark is essentially the only character who is ever on screen, and his acting is not always the strongest. He has some great moments, but there are some others that are more akin to his more comedic short films and YouTube content. The rest of the cast, however, is primarily featured through voice work, and the great majority of it is very good.
One of the most hit-and-miss pieces of the production was cinematography. Some of the shots were very well composed and led to some really well-done transitions, while other shots were hard to decipher what we were being shown. Certain shots with motion were also a little dizzying. But given how tight the space the camera had to move around, they were able to keep shots fluid and of high variety.
I think Mark did a great job adapting a game that is more of an analog horror game than a true narrative story. The player can find notes that let them in on what’s happened before their time in the sub, and Mark uses that to his advantage, having his character discover notes in the sub too. The script has some well-written pieces that explore the lore and show us who our characters are. Some of the moments that leave Simon by himself are a bit odd and come off more like rambles than entirely necessary dialogues. I think with the run time of the film being the length that it is, taking some of that time to explore the world and the motivations of the Coalition of Iron, who has taken the main character prisoner in the first place, would benefit the audience.
Despite these few flaws, the film is what I would call a triumphant success. One of the biggest things to note about Iron Lung is that it is about as independent as an independent film can get. The entire project was self-funded and distributed by Markiplier. Its budget is reportedly around $3 million. What this film is able to accomplish on this budget is very impressive. The special and practical effects are all very good. The set is just 1 single location, being the submarine, the SM-13, which is nicknamed the Iron Lung. Simon (Markiplier) is trapped inside here, and the size of the set makes the film feel claustrophobic. The sub feels very lived in; every single rivet, pipe, and dial seems like it’s functional. Mark has shared behind-the-scenes footage of how they built and filmed the submarine, which makes seeing the now-completed film all the more interesting.
Most of the film’s effects are practical, which is always something I love seeing, especially when they are executed as well as this movie. There are several scenes where the main character is injured, and the makeup and effects really sell it. One of the main hinges of the film is that Simon, while exploring the blood ocean, believes he’s found a huge fish that is trying to destroy his sub. This is one of the few scenes that is seemingly made with CGI, but the effects are really well-made. One thing that Mark prides himself on is the amount of fake blood used in the film. He even made a post during production where he was taken to the hospital for getting so much fake blood in his eyes, and there were so many scenes that featured him being sprayed with or covered in fake blood that it’s almost impossible to tell which scene did it.
One of the other highlights of the film was the editing, which was done by a small team, but I believe Mark was the primary editor. All of his years of audio and video editing really showed through in Iron Lung; the edits were tight and interesting.
Online reviews are heavily skewed and also extremely biased. I found this film to be engaging, and it consistently kept my attention. One of the biggest and best surprises of my screening of Iron Lung was the theater etiquette. Video Game adaptation audiences have recently had a terrible reputation for being loud and obnoxious during screenings (Chicken Jockey). I can’t speak for everyone, but my theater was relatively packed, and everyone was polite and didn’t feel the need to speak out or throw things during the film.
Whether you’re a fan of Markiplier and his past work, science fiction, horror, independent video games, independent film, or oceans of blood filled with unknown creatures, you should check this movie out. In the era of inflated budgets and massive studio monopolies, I think we owe it to small productions like this to at least give them a try. I commend Mark and his whole team for what they were able to accomplish with no major studio behind them. After years of not finding distribution, the film is now released in over 4,100 theaters, and if you have the extra time and want to support an independent project, Iron Lung is (likely) playing in a theater near you.