Out of all of the YouTubers turn filmmakers, Markiplier, also known as Mark Fischbach, was one that I least expected. Over the course of his nearly 15-year-long career on YouTube, he has amassed nearly 40 million subscribers as he does playthroughs of independent and AAA video games. One of these games was Iron Lung, created by David Syzmanski. A claustrophobic video game where players play as a submarine captain who searches for life in an ocean filled with blood. It’s an interesting premise that could make a compelling film. However, I did not know what to expect from Mark as a filmmaker. He has a couple of shorts on his YouTube page, but nothing of this scale. Yet, Mark manages to pull off a miracle with Iron Lung as he delivers one of the most surprising films of the year.
In a post-apocalyptic future where star systems and planets, a convict named Simon (Mark Fischbach, Markiplier), is sent on a desperate search for life on a desolate moon where the ocean is made of blood. Confined in a submarine named the “Iron Lung” , a routine mission slowly turns into a bloody nightmare as Simon realizes he may not be the only living organism on the ocean floor.
Like the video game, Iron Lung is a single-location film, set entirely within its namesake submarine. It is claustrophobic, swelteringly hot, and barely functional. The Iron Lung measures no more than fifty square feet, offering no view of the outside world beyond an occasional still image captured by an x-ray camera. The equipment is sparse, the amenities nonexistent as the sub doesn’t even have a toilet. This is a bare-minimum vessel in every sense. A vessel that feels less like a submarine and more like a death trap. Through Mark’s direction, cinematography, and editing, you’re made to feel every suffocating second inside it.
Despite its claustrophobic scale, Mark establishes a distinct visual language. The cinematography is striking as the film employs an array of lenses and camera angles that make the walls feel like they are closing in on Simon, both figuratively and literally. The editing is as equally as precise as it relies on fragmented transitions that mirror Simon’s deteriorating sense of time and sanity. Furthermore, Iron Lung weaponizes its sound design, ensuring that you hear every drop of blood, every subtle shift in pressure, and every unnerving voice that comes from the deep ocean within the submarine’s suffocating interior. This language creates a deliberate slow-burn that captures cosmic, Lovecraftian horror with unnerving detail. In this case, a record breaking 80,000 gallons or over 300,000 liters of fake blood.
However, despite these praises, Iron Lung is not perfect. The film’s slow-burn pace and extended runtime makes the two hour long runtime feel closer to three. Furthermore, while Mark gives a great performance, especially given that he is not a professionally trained actor, he struggles with the microexpressions and nuances of Simon. Simon has a tragic and mysterious backstory that requires a lot of subtle acting. This type of acting is where Mark struggles the most which sadly makes his performance feel clunky and uneven at points. If the film would have either removed Simon’s backstory or had a professionally trained actor to play him, it would have even out some of the film’s uneven writing.
But with all of that stated, Iron Lung is an incredibly strong directorial debut. The film is unnerving, unsettling and downright creepy. The film resists the urge to explain itself, trusting the audience’s intelligence to sit with its mystery and unease of its setting and narrative. Mark controls the entire film’s atmosphere by turning its single location setting into its strength. While the film is not perfect and there is still room for Mark to grow, the level of intention and craft on display is impossible to ignore.
My Rating: B
Iron Lung is now playing in theaters nationwide.
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