Written by Brandon Hoffman
Widely known for his YouTube fame, Mark Fischbach (a.k.a. Markiplier) has officially made his first impression in the filmmaking industry. The video game Iron Lung, developed by David Szymanski, made waves for its unique presentation and harrowing story. Fast forwarding to today, Markiplier has demonstrated his directing skills in the most creative way he could with the movie version of the game.
In Iron Lung, the audience is treated as an unwilling witness to a story filled with grief and helplessness. It features a convict named Simon (Mark Fischbach) trapped in a submarine and forced to find remnants of a desolate world in an ocean of blood. The journey Simon rides on is a true roller coaster, filled with suffering the consequences of being a convict with seemingly no future ahead of him.
There are plenty of things to enjoy about this movie’s atmosphere. The Iron Lung submarine is the setting throughout the movie, creating a serious urge of wanting to escape the claustrophobic space. Hope as a concept is barely present, as Simon constantly realizes his fate in a pseudo-hell prison.
The camerawork only adds to the uneasiness of the situation. The close-up shots of heavy breathing, widened eyes, and facial expressions reward the audience for paying attention to the littlest details in emotional storytelling. Simon switches from determination to sadness pretty often and the feeling of being trapped along with him thanks to the tight camera shots makes for an intentionally uncomfortable watch. When multiple areas outside the submarine’s main console area are shown, they do not symbolize freedom from hard labor. Instead, they’re another great way to give the audience the total sense of being stuck and forced to traverse the bloody ocean.
Another highlight is Fischbach’s breakout acting. After years of screaming at video games and developing his own YouTube series such as A Heist with Markiplier and A Date with Markiplier, he is in his absolute peak in Iron Lung. The subtle struggle in his voice complements his convincing ability to shed tears made for such heart-wrenching moments throughout this film’s crucial moments.
The R-rating gives lots of leeway for this movie to get bloody. And my goodness, it gets excessively bloody indeed. Some moments in this film are graphic enough for the squeamish to look away, making for even more unforgettable visual imagery. All the blood in the trailers is definitely not just a shock value insert, it enhances the horror.
However, that’s not the only reason this movie is likely not for everyone. The movie itself does a good job explaining the reasoning behind Simon’s story, but if you went into this movie blind to the lore, it would be easy to get lost. Also, Iron Lung tends to slow-burn and drag on—especially during the first half. The moments that don’t include action feature lots of standstill motion. That does seem to be the intent, though, making tension the top feeling when watching these isolated scenes. Basically, your attention span will be rewarded if you keep being invested in Simon’s high-stress and low-action situations.
One final, minimal gripe, this movie definitely benefits from being watched with subtitles. There are moments where multiple voices blend into each other and it is hard to understand what is being said sometimes. But, hey, that’s a good reason to rewatch the movie when it comes out on streaming platforms in the future!
Iron Lung is quite the harrowing horror movie, and a fantastic retelling of the original video game’s plot. Markiplier’s first major movie being this unsettling deep-dive into a science fiction type of story is worth checking out even if you are going into it completely blind. The acting is convincing, the emotions run high, and the story hits on all cylinders. Markiplier fans around the world being very proud of this man’s passion project should tell us all we hoped for when it comes to an adaptation this faithful.
