First-time director Mark Fischbach, better known as Markiplier, pours it all out into his passion project of the popular indie horror game Iron Lung.
Iron Lung
Starring Markiplier, Caroline Rose Kaplan, Troy Baker
Directed by Markiplier
Runtime: 2 hours, 7 mins
Synopsis
Based on the game of the same name, Iron Lung follows what’s left of human civilization after an event, The Quiet Rapture, leaves humanity scrambling to survive as stars begin to die out. As they continue to explore, a few select moons are discovered to have massive oceans of blood, which may hold the key to extra resources or possibly an answer to the Rapture. As a way to explore these oceans quickly and cheaply, submarines are developed with minimal equipment and piloted by convicts who can work off their sentences. We watch as convict Simon (Markiplier) sets out to moon AT-5 to earn his freedom by documenting what’s lurking beneath the blood.
Oceans of Promise
Conceptually, Iron Lung is a bonkers, eldritch-level horror idea from creator David Szymanski. Trying to wrap your head around the idea of dying stars (example: realizing the light you see if the final gasp from those stars lightyears away), moon oceans full of blood, warring factions within the remaining bits of humanity, and navigating a craft with less instrumentation than a P-51 mustang can certainly be overwhelming. When it comes together, it works incredibly well, like Simon working the submarine’s x-ray photo machine. This plot device works on multiple levels: it shows us our first glimpse of skeletal remains on the ocean floor, it only works for a short amount of time, and due to the minimal lighting within the Iron Lung, it becomes an essential tool for Simon to read anything or plan his next course of action. Each press of the button releases just enough light to gather your bearings, which plays well into Simon’s psychosis later on as the line between what’s really happening down there begins to blur.
Where the film unravels, to the point of boredom, is how repetitive these motions become. Every time Simon desperately presses the button or looks over his map helps sell the isolation and dread, but those returns begin to diminish after the first 20 minutes. While the movie mostly avoids the freshman editor temptation to include too many transitions and edits that you just learned in Adobe Premiere that it creates whiplash, the pacing could have been helped with tighter edits in these slower scenes. There are plenty of moments where we understand the gist of the situation or sufficient dread has been established and yet the camera lingers way too long.
Unfortunately, that freshman editing problem eventually rears it’s head by the film’s finale where I dare even the most observant audience members to explain what actually happened. The editing / scene direction is so wild that you almost need to break it down frame by frame to understand what is happening. If you haven’t fallen asleep by this point, this sequence will definitely jolt you awake, but you’ll be equally confused as the rest of the audience.
This is definitely a situation where having someone else edit the film, instead of pulling double duty as director and editor would have served Mark well. Even veteran filmmakers who are skilled at editing rely on other professionals to take over this process so a fresh pair of eyes can assess what’s actually needed in a scene. Clocking in over 2 hours, a re-edit of this film could tighten up the slower sections, maybe get it down to 1 hour, 45 minutes or so, enriching the more promising elements for a better cinematic experience.
Another promising, but uneven area is Markiplier’s performance as Simon. Since the other performances are largely heard, not seen (and those are difficult to hear at times given the film’s audio choices), Mark’s performance is doing all the heavy lifting. For the most part, he’s serviceable in this role; however Simon’s character development is pretty minimal and the meager attempts to expand on his conviction were so muddled and indecipherable that it’s hard to have any compassion for his situation, other than the overwhelming sense of dread. Yes, the film’s attempt at world building should be applauded, but these moments can be so difficult to understand, hear, or care about, that it has a compounded effect on every dull, monotonous action that Simon carries out. It also falls into another trap that adaptations can fall into: saying a cool idea or franchise touchstone without actually exploring it.
Having not played the game, I’m sure there were a few areas that should have or were likely aimed to have a larger impact when said aloud, but the film wasn’t interested in actually delving into those issues. It’s frustrating as a writer to see narratives intentionally withhold information or refuse to flesh out an idea, it’s not witty or a smart mystery, it’s laziness disguised as expertise. I don’t lay that blame entirely with Mark, but it’s a cultural writing problem that’s popping up more and more, with very little push back from audiences.
Applauding The Attempt
Given the $3 million budget and leaning on his YouTube audience for backing and marketing, Markiplier should definitely take a bow for pulling this off in the current state of Hollywood. Sure, Mark may have slightly more capital or networking access than other indie directors starting out, but that doesn’t diminish how difficult completing this project was. As someone who eventually aims to release his own movie, it’s encouraging to me seeing Markiplier and other YouTubers, like film critic Chris Stuckmann (directorial debut with Shelby Oaks in 2025), find avenues for cinematic success. Sure, these releases weren’t perfect knockouts, and given their audiences, those small missteps can seem gigantic. However, these freshman attempts should be applauded for the incredible effort and promise. If they can continue honing their craft, it could create more avenues for other YouTuber stars and content creators to master their craft across multiple mediums.
Conclusion / Recommendation
Iron Lung explores a dreadfully, grim dark universe through one man’s eyes and experiences, and while there are some highlights in the ship design, lighting, and overall aesthetic as Simon devolves into madness, the experience is hindered by poor editing choices and frustrating choices when it comes to expanding the plot and the overall world. There could a gem of a sci-fi flick in here, but it will take a steadier editing hand to truly unlock it.
If you’re a big fan of Markiplier, it may be worth your time to see what he accomplished and support his theater run so future projects stand a better chance of getting cinema time. Otherwise, I can’t recommend this as the pacing issues will likely turn off curious fans, and frustrate the most avid horror fans alike.
Score: 5.7 out of 10
- 5- A Glacial Pace
- I am a reviewer who loves slow burn stories and even I felt this was too much. Another editor’s touch could have easily whipped this movie into a more presentable shape.
- 5- Half-Submerged Plot
- The plot is simple when it comes to Simon exploring the ocean of blood, but it’s not complex or fleshed out enough to make us care or understand more of the world being built.
- 7- Better Than A Ocean Gate Sub
- There some great visuals and practical effect touches that fans of the game and newcomers will certainly enjoy that punch above their low budget weight.
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