(SPOILER FREE) IRON LUNG MOVIE REVIEW

 Written by Caden Granger for the LB Commuter

    If there is still hope, it lies beyond the veil. Hope in this void is as illusionary as the starlight. I will choose to breathe my last at the bottom of an ocean, unseen, unheard, and uncontrolled.

    Iron Lung is a game released on March 9th, 2022, by developer David Syzmanski, where after every star and habitable planet disappeared, few survivors are left trying to find any possible resources, and you’re a convict, welded inside a one-man submarine, and dropped into an ocean of blood to investigate deep below, with nothing but photographs from a camera to guide your way.

    The game received high praise on its 2022 release for the sound design and environment, as well as the unique concept and gameplay of controlling a submarine and only being able to see through still photo flashes, having to keep yourself from running into walls, and leaving what you see up to interpretation as you go point to point on a map alone. Popularity around the game has resurged multiple times in the following years, one moment being in 2023 when the Titan sub went missing underwater with the similarity between the submarines and situations, with Syzmanski stating that it “felt so wrong” watching the game’s sales surge, noting the hilarity of the dark-humored jokes, and also stating that it’s a horrifying situation for the people inside to be in, regardless. It also came up again later in December that year, when the price was raised to $8 from $6. This brought up a discussion of pricing indie games when Syzmanski fought back against criticism, stating that he thought that’s what the game was worth, and he wanted to make a living off of his work. This also brought up a smaller discussion of the ethics of refunding short games after finishing them, as Iron Lung is maybe 2 hours at the very longest, falling under Steam’s refund policy time to complete.

    On April 21, 2023, popular creator Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach announced he would be writing, directing, starring in, and self-financing a horror film adaptation of the game with involvement from Syzmanski. Filming was announced to be completed just days later, on the 29th of that month, with an official trailer showing on October 14, 2023. 

    After this, while it was being finished up in a massive render farm in his bathroom and edited, the film was stuck in licensing hell, as Mark wanted a theatrical release, turning down offers that didn’t involve that, and talking about wanting to retain full creative control. This led to him announcing and planning a self-release of the film with the goal of hitting 50-100 independent theaters, to it now being shown in 4105 theaters across North America, Europe, and Australia with Regal, Cinemark, AMC, and plenty more, with plans to bring it to Southeast Asia and South America after the success, even breaking down in tears at learning it was sold out in his hometown of Cincinnati.

    The film collected about 6 million dollars from presales, and when it released on January 30th, the film made an estimated 9 million, taking the #1 spot for a moment in the United States box office and recouping its roughly 3 million dollar budget in a single day and reaching 21.7 million by the end of the weekend, beating out Send Help by Sam Raimi temporarilly, as well as Melania (which let's be honest, nobody is actually seeing, and nobody wants to see), and going on to break 50 million worldwide after 3 weeks before reaching the aforementioned extra locations. Iron Lung has also been praised for putting out exceptional numbers for not having a partnership with a studio, and instead utilizing his massive audience, hopefully helping break the barriers to get into showing and creating films for future artists.

    The movie was a phenomenal horror thriller, adapting the game faithfully and following Syzmanski’s game’s premise, but broke off in its own way to give you something original and familiar, but still fresh. The movie is a slow burn, and it takes itself seriously and doesn’t lean back on big names or lots of cameos and references, continuously luring you in closer with more bits and pieces over the two hours of runtime. The camera work in the movie is amazing, and the scenes are composed beautifully for how enclosed the space is, and there are plenty of beautiful shots full of detail with perfect lighting and different perspectives. The movie also claimed to beat Evil Dead for the most fake blood in a movie at 80,000 gallons, and boy, there sure is a lot of it.

    As proven in the past with projects such as In Space With Markiplier and The Edge of Sleep, the man’s a pretty damn good actor, and can write and direct too. This movie is groundbreaking in the sense of how well put together it is, as YouTuber films and game adaptations don’t typically have the best reputations, and he proudly uses the name Markiplier, showing no shame from the fact he came from YouTube, and he spreads the love from the movie, talking about how he wants to give theaters half of the revenue and bonuses to his team for helping make his movie happen. Another thing he’s doing to celebrate the movie is a nationwide blood drive with the assistance of Regal and a plethora of other theaters and blood banks, encouraging fans to give blood, and donating blood himself!

    I would give Mark Fischbach’s Iron Lung adaptation a solid 4/5. The movie briefly explains the premise before it starts, but knowing the game definitely helps. Some moments slow down a little too much around the 2/3rd point, and some dialogue feels weird or too quiet at times or feels like it could’ve used a retake, but for the most part, and with the budget and time constraints considered, it’s a very solid adaptation and great watch. The movie also sounds really great, the soundtrack by Andrew Hulshult is subtle at times but very fitting and can help intensify moments perfectly, and the audio mastering helps capture the feeling of being trapped in the small submarine.

    I definitely think there’s a specific audience for this rather than a wide public appeal (more specifically, people who are familiar with Iron Lung [or Syzmanski’s work in general], fans of Mark, or people into strange or surreal cosmic horror concepts, but I would highly encourage people to check it out if they’re interested in those ideas, especially with a planned physical and digital release outside of theaters being worked on.