“Iron Lung” is a film that was directed, funded, produced, and starred by internet legend Markiplier also known by his real name Mark Fischbach. “Iron Lung” is a movie based on a game by the same name made by David Szymanski. In the movie, Mark plays a convict named Simon who is sealed inside the SM-13, a submarine that is basically a rush job to make something somewhat usable for undersea exploration. In the movie and game, Simon must explore an ocean of blood on an unknown moon. This ocean of blood appeared after an event called the quiet rapture happened which made every single planet vanish without a trace. All that were left were space stations. Simon had made a deal to no longer serve a prison sentence if he can explore this ocean of blood. Unfortunately, much is unknown about this ocean. The SM-13 has an X-ray camera attached to it as it’s quite difficult to see through blood.
“Iron Lung” is a visual masterpiece with each scene having a dark and creepy feeling. Its visual and practical effects are amazing. This movie had a budget of 3 million dollars and had made it to number one on the box office charts within the first few days of its release. It is a great adaptation from the game, and gives you a eerie feeling that he’s not alone. There is one scene that does carry spoilers so I will not be talking about what happens in it, but the visual effects are amazing. We need more movies like “Iron Lung” that really sell the creepy factor to a max. The emotion you can hear in the actor’s voices really helps carry the scenes and despite it having an incredibly small cast of actors all of them give their best effort. Around halfway through the two hour and thirty-minute film, they have an incredible fake out moment where they make you think the movie would end there as it snaps you right back into the SM-13 as the scene changes some more. The way this movie uses the already very little in-game lore and expands on it is amazing despite not answering questions left from the game.
Would you have to play the game before seeing the movie? No, in fact I encourage you to go blind, it’s an amazing film that deserves recognition and praise. Iron lung is one of those movies that I’d wish to go back and watch for the very first time in a heartbeat. It is quite literally a film that really shows how much Mark loves his fans and audience. “Iron Lung” was a passion project that was brought to be fully developed into an amazing film. That’s why I decided to rate it a 4.5/5 and I hope after reading this you decide to check it out as well.
Written by Lyam Fortier, Lethbridge Polytechnic
