“Iron Lung,” an independent film produced by the Markiplier Studio, has been an anticipated movie for fans of the director. Mark Fischbach, most known by his online persona Markiplier, directed the film and plays the main protagonist, Simon, who is forced to man a sealed submarine on an alien world in a sea of blood. With little knowledge of his task, Simon follows cryptic directions he can only assume will benefit humanity's survival.
Markiplier is one of the most popular streamers and Youtubers known for his game playthroughs, smaller films and interactive youtube series such as In Space With Markiplier or A Heist with Markiplier.
“This has been the longest run of pure work that I’ve ever done my entire life,” Markiplier said in an interview about the movie. “This has been the most arduous thing that I have ever taken on.”
“Iron Lung” is a post-apocalyptic horror film featuring suspense and body gore, where humanity has met its match. In a scramble to rebuild and survive, what could be left of humanity begins exploring an alien ocean of blood. Simon, in an act of punishment for his past actions, is sent deep within a welded and sealed submarine, named the Iron Lung. He is tasked with finding coordinates, with little to no outside knowledge of what he is looking for.
Within the dangerous environment, something lurks not so far behind the submarine as he attempts to gain his freedom and get out alive.
The movie follows the storyline of the indie game Iron Lung, launched on March 2, 2022, where the submarine pilot, Simon, is fighting for his freedom from the welded-shut vessel. With only an x-ray camera and a compass in the deep sea, he races to complete the mission and avoid whatever may be lurking in the alien environment.
However, Markiplier has added his own twists into the story while keeping the overall theme of the game.
In the game, players take on the role of a convict who has been sentenced to serve within the sealed vessel, though there is no narrative surrounding that character. Fischbach creates a backstory to the character that continues to connect throughout the movie to its resolution. There is a continuing conflict of innocence and wrongful convictions due to betrayal. The movie delivers a chilling and suspenseful adaptation of the game.
The setting in the film takes place between only a few different scene locations, most of which were filmed in a built-to-scale enclosed space, meant to be the submarine. The film has a slow pace, leading into more intense action.
The film has a dark dramatic story that keeps the watcher anticipating what happens next, where the dialogue is very important to pay attention to. There are only a few human actors, as most of the movie takes place within the small submarine in the ocean of blood. Simon, the proclaimed, “convict,” is alone with only a camera and a compass with coordinates to tell him where he's going and what awaits him outside of the ship.
An important aspect for potential watchers to know is that “Iron Lung” includes body gore and bright flashes of light that may not be suitable to some viewers.. The flashes of light contrast the dark lighting that most, if not all, of the movie keeps, intensely.
The movie released on Jan. 30 in select theaters, with no plan for a physical or streaming release at the time. If fans wanted to see it locally they would have to call and request local theaters in their area to show the independent film.
Iron Lung made $21.7 million on opening weekend, outdoing its budget of only three million dollars. With the film being in select theatres at certain times of the week now, after being for nearly a month, the movie has surpassed $40 million worldwide.
“Iron Lung” proves that there isn't necessarily a need for a movie to be made in Hollywood or with a big budget to be a successful film. With such a small budget, the movie has already accumulated more than seven times what it would have needed to break from its three million dollar budget.
This movie has opened discussions on what a successful film looks like and sets the stage for future indie horror films.
Devin Bates (they/he) is a journalism major at IU Indianapolis with an interest in writing and the arts. In their free time they can be found working on their project cars or writing, but he also enjoys crafts like cosplay and listening to music or gaming.
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