Iron Lung: When Passion Overrides the Hollywood Cog Machine

There is something incredibly special ( and new for me at least ) about going to see an independently funded film by a person you have watched grow for over a decade.

And while I'm no hardcore Markiplier fan ( I do not know the deep lore ), I have enjoyed his videos off and on for years for both entertainment, and a surprising amount of deep and thoughtful discussions. From funny playthroughs of new games like Valheim to the scarier videos covering the titular Iron Lung video game, to the fun and eye opening Unus Annus project, it's always been an enjoyable pitstop while going about my usual online browsing.

So going into a movie theatre to see a movie Markiplier stars in, directs in, edited, produced and funded himself really felt surreal.

When the trailer for Iron Lung first dropped last year, I had a mixture of wariness and excitement. Excitement because Iron Lung the video game was a super interesting concept to adapt to film that I thought could be right up my alley. Wariness came from the knowledge that Markiplier, despite his raging success on YouTube, could not reach the heights of a movie with proper backing and support, and I had zero idea if he could pull off not just the movie itself, but the heavy burden of being its main actor.

How wrong I was.

Iron Lung is a Deep Dive into Psychological Suspense & Cosmic Horror

When I tell you my jaw dropped multiple times throughout this movie, it's not an exaggeration. Rarely does a movie nail me to the chair while viewing, but Iron Lung began doing in out of the gate.

Every shot in this movie is dripping with bloody good cinematic shots, creative angles, and mind twisting visual effects that rarely reveal just how small of a budget this film ran off of. ( Just $3 million! ) From the get-go there are slow pan shots of zoomed-in water droplets trailing down the rusty pipes and walls of the submarine the main character, Simon ( played by Markiplier ) is welded into.

As Simon sinks into the waves of a blood ocean aboard the Iron Lung ( the submarine ) the camera takes a tour of the inner workings of the sub, while also cutting to a stiff, distant, and rightfully tense Simon. Moisture drips from the pipes, the walls groan and creak with each foot descended, and Simon sits alone and isolated in the one chair facing a port hole window that is quickly sealed shut.

With a run time of two hours and seven minutes, the first half hour is spent in this atmosphere of suspense. Just like Simon, the viewer has no idea what's outside the sub, save for a powerful x-ray camera he can use to take photos, which also just so happens to serve as one of the main light sources in the sub later on.

The unique and creative camera shots help make this slow-burn start visually interesting, while the little bit of dialogue we do get teases answers to questions we have as the movie opens. What did Simon do to become a convict? For what crime is he accused? Why is he being sent down in this death trap of a submarine? And the biggest question, how the hell did every planet and star suddenly vanish in an event known as 'The Quiet Rapture'?

Believe it or not, if you pay attention to the dialogue and visual clues, you will get all of these answered with some fun room for speculation.

Everything Changes with Blood

Soon the walls are not only dripping with moisture from the residual heat within the Iron Lung, but they are oozing with blood from the blood ocean surrounding it. Once this begins happening, the movie truly begins a descent into madness.

I won't spoil the entire story as much as I want to just yap on and on about this movie, but safe to say that once you reach the halfway mark into the movie, everything is up in the air. You don't know what's going to happen. Is this going to be a heroic tale? Is there going to be sacrifice? Will everyone die before the end?

More and more is added to the puzzle of Simon's situation just as more and more fear and doubt swirl in his mind with the dwindling oxygen supply he's faced with. Towards the later half, you begin to wonder how much of his madness is due to oxygen deprivation, or the thing in the blood ocean that's been following him from the very first x-ray picture.

And man, it gets really crazy by the end. The editors, producers, and CGI wizards flex on the audience as the screen flares with red blood storms, the roiling waves of the blood ocean, and the horrifying imagery of a being beyond the understanding of a mortal mind.

Again, I wish I could let myself yap and share my speculations of the climax and resolution of this movie, but this is just a review and a call to action for all of you cosmic horror fans and cinephiles to go see this movie in theatres yourself while you still can!

Now, I won't call this a cinematic masterpiece, as it's not perfect. Some of the dialogue and thus the story is a little hard to follow if you're not familiar with the video game this film is inspired by, and there's maybe one or two spots in Markiplier's acting that feels off, but the passion and creativity brought to this film truly shine through and make it a very unique and refreshing experience in the theatre.

If you've been looking for a sign to go see Iron Lung, take this review as yours. It's rare to get to support a fully independent film on the big screen, and give Hollywood a heart attack at the same time.

If you'd like my unfiltered and spoiler thoughts on this movie, let me know in the comments! : D