On Jan. 30, “Iron Lung” debuted in theatres. While critics’ reviews are not in the film’s favor, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is sitting at 89%. The movie is a passion project of famous YouTuber “Markiplier.”
He was involved in most aspects of the filmmaking process: he acted in, raised funds, and edited the entire movie himself. With no backing from a major studio or production company, this allowed him complete creative control over the filmmaking process.
This is not the first time a YouTuber has dipped into horror filmmaking. In 2022, Danny and Michael Philippou of sketch channel “RackaRacka” wrote and directed “Talk To Me.” After showing their film at the Adelaide Film Festival, indie film studio A24 purchased the distribution rights to the film in the US markets.
This was later followed by their sophomore film, “Bring Her Back”, also distributed by A24. Curry Baker of the comedy channel “That’s a Bad Idea” recently wrote and directed the upcoming horror movie “Obsession”; it was picked up by movie distributor Focus Features for release. The film will premiere nationwide in early May.
The film’s plot follows a similar one to the game. The movie follows a convict played by Markiplier himself. The convict is one of the only characters the viewer actually sees; the rest make short appearances or are completely voice-acted. In return for a reduced sentence, he agrees to control the submarine through the blood ocean.
The Consolidation tasks him to collect samples for the scientists to study. Unfortunately, he is not alone in the blood ocean. During the convict’s time, he is met with conflict after conflict, putting his survival in jeopardy.
This movie is an example of how a video game adaptation should be done. It heavily involves the game’s creator while having die-hard fans work on the movie. Markiplier makes a good impression in his acting debut. Viewers can see his passion for the game through his dedication to the role.
Given the plot’s nature, “Iron Lung” is one of the most bloody movies to be released in recent years. If excess amounts of blood make a viewer nauseous, this would not be a fun watch. Blood rolls down the submarine’s porthole each time it gets taken back to the surface. The movie also incorporates some disturbing body horror, a horror technique where a character’s body gets abnormally contorted or deteriorated.
While this movie does a lot of things right, its biggest flaw is the pacing. It is 127 minutes long; however, some of the scenes either drag on or not much really happens. While there are some good elements of tension and suspense, the time in between these scenes mitigates the overall effect of them. The movie should have been between the 90-to-100-minute mark to keep viewers’ attention in mind.
Overall, “Iron Lung” is a strong first film for Markiplier and his team. The fact that this film was made entirely independently with no Hollywood backing makes it even more impressive. While most adaptations steer too far from the base material, “Iron Lung” is truly made by fans for fans.
