Iron Lung

Iron Lung
Starring Mark Fischbach, Caroline Rose Kaplan, Troy Baker, Elsie Lovelock
Directed by Mark Fischbach

Very rarely is there a movie I go into totally blind - no reviews, no trailers, no synopsis, no information whatsoever. "Iron Lung" is one such film: a movie that all I knew of was the behind-the-scenes work that was done to get it finished, along with a mysterious movie poster that I, for some reason, thought was a werewolf (I have no idea why). I also knew it was based on a video game that I never heard of, but after seeing the movie I looked into it and it seems like a "Five Nights at Freddy's" style game - one location, one person, looking through pictures and traversing an unrelenting landscape in a submarine. Not knowing anything about the game served as a detriment for me, however, as those who knew the game really liked the movie while I found myself confused and somewhat bored with the proceedings, but it doesn't take away from the monumental work done to see it come to fruition. 

In the near future, an event called The Quiet Rapture occurs, which results in all stars and planets vanishing, and only those who were on space stations or spaceships survived. Simon (Mark Fischbach) is a convict imprisoned for destroying a space station, and his punishment is manning the Iron Lung - a one-man submarine tasked with exploring an ocean of blood on a moon named AT-5 to search for something to aid the colony. While down there he encounters a mysterious creature that stalks the submarine, and slowly delves into madness as he argues with the higher ups who don't seem to want him making it out alive.

"Iron Lung" is based on a 2022 video game developed by David Szymanski, where the player controls an unnamed convict who explores an ocean of blood on a desolate moon in a small submarine called "Iron Lung." YouTube star Mark Fischbach (known as Markiplier) played the game and ended up loving it so much he decided to make it into a movie. His passion is undeniable, as he not just starred in the movie but also directed it, wrote it, edited it, and financed it himself. Not just that, but after completing the project no major studio would accept it, so he distributed it himself under his own Markiplier Studios production company. In a cinematic world where soulless cash grabs and mindless sequels dominate the landscape, finding someone wholly dedicated to seeing his vision come to fruition is awe-inspiring, and so is the outcome. On a budget of $3 million, it made $25 million opening weekend, making it the second highest grossing movie that weekend behind Sam Raimi's "Send Help." It's an underdog story that needs to be appreciated, even if anyone outside the gaming world will have no idea what's happening.

That is the film's negative side. While watching the movie there's a lot of exposition, but major things are missing (or at least I missed). The world has essentially ended, with planets and stars disappearing, and one man is tasked with going in a submarine to find...something...to make things better but I'm not sure it's stated what that is. Maybe it was, but with Fischbach being essentially the only actor on screen, everyone else talks through a shoddy, oftentimes jumbled speaker where you can't fully hear everything they're saying. The mystery is that there's a creature outside, but we only see it in short scenes where he takes pictures of the outside, and there's not a lot of information as to what it is. The film is a little over two hours, with the majority of the time nothing happens, but when things do happen it's pretty exciting. 

It's hard to really critique this film because I never played the game, so I might be completely off, but speaking for anyone who never heard of the game, this could move at a slug's pace through most of it. To that end, cutting about forty minutes and making it a leaner movie could've helped it, but then again it might've taken away important aspects of the game. Plus this is Markiplier's directorial debut, and also serving as editor he had a lot to do and might learn about better editing in the future.

Despite its misgivings for anyone who never played the game, "Iron Lung" is still a fascinating study on what it takes to make your dreams come true, and to pursue your passion no matter what - and for fans of the game, it's undeniably an enjoyable ride.

The Score: B+