You’ll see red in ‘Iron Lung’

By Jesse Burchill Staff Writer

Marcus Falcão / THE GATEPOST

Released on Jan. 30, Iron Lung is a science fiction horror movie directed by, written by, and starring Mark Fischbach, who many may know as the YouTuber Markiplier. Based on the 2022 video game of the same name, the movie is set in a future where humanity has colonized outer space. However, all stars and planets in the known universe suddenly disappear in the “Quiet Rapture,” and much of humanity is lost in the process, leaving only moons and space stations. As part of the survivors’ effort to find answers and ways to survive, a convict named Simon (Fischbach) is sent to a moon to investigate an ocean that is composed entirely of blood. Things get worse from there for Simon, with hallucinations and copious amounts of blood. Prior to making the film, Mark had created and acted in the YouTube series “A Heist With Markiplier,” “Who Killed Markiplier?” and “In Space With Markiplier,” as well as the podcast “The Edge of Sleep” and its television adaptation. In these series, the story is told across multiple episodes and Mark acts across a variety of locations with multiple other actors. Here, Mark is the only actor on-screen for the majority of the film, all the while being stuck inside a submarine with his only connection to the outside world being a radio and a porthole. He’s a one-man show, and proves that he can carry a two-hour movie almost completely by himself. As Simon’s situation gets worse and the truths of his past, his mission, and the blood ocean are revealed, he expresses a range in his performance and a gamut of emotions unmatched in his YouTube career. The film’s production is also an achievement in and of itself. This movie was Mark’s passion project three years in the making, with no help from mainstream film studios, relying mainly on word-of-mouth, and made on a budget of less than $3 million. The effort Mark and company put into the film is palpable in every frame. However, there were some moments - during hallucinations, flashbacks, the playback of an audio log, and towards the end - where I had trouble understanding what was being said. Another moment toward the end noticeably used a bit of shaky cam, and that made it difficult to discern what was going on. There’s a period of time before the especially creepy stuff happens where Simon is exploring the blood ocean and the inner workings of the ship. I’ve seen the pacing here be called “boring,” but in the theater, I saw it more as “slow-burn.” Simon is learning how the ship works and how to use the controls, and it felt like we were in the sub learning alongside him. The performances of the cast during this period are also engaging enough to prevent detachment during the viewing experience, and it does a good job of setting up an atmosphere of isolation. But when the scary stuff kicks in, it really kicks in. There’s a blur between reality and hallucination that gets worse as time goes on, and almost nothing is given about the true nature of the blood ocean - everything is brought together perfectly to create a claustrophobic cosmic horror story unlike any other I’ve ever seen. Furthermore, the film famously used 80,000 gallons of fake blood, breaking a record in the process, and it got its money’s worth in the third act. The resulting effect is appropriately disgusting when Simon is swamped and completely submerged by it. In the end, “Iron Lung” is fascinating, riveting, and confusing at the same time, resulting in one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen (and definitely in a good way). I’ve been a fan of Markiplier since I was in middle school, and it was an awesome experience to see him make his debut on the big screen. Rating: A Blurb: A bloody enjoyable indie film