“Iron Lung” could be described by one word: bloody. Despite the overwhelming gore, it is a film which excels in multiple ways, and fails in others. But overall, it was an enjoyable film, full of trippy and existential themes, which I think it excels at.
The movie was made by Mark Fischbach, better known as Markiplier. A YouTuber known for his gaming videos. He directed, wrote, edited, and starred in the film as the main protagonist.
The movie follows Simon, a convict responsible for the destruction of a space station, who is submerged in a rickety submarine on a moon with oceans of blood, taking place in a hopeless future with millions of stars going out and much of the human population dying with it.
SPOILERS AHEAD
After being sent under, he navigates and maps a lot of the sea. Using a radiation-powered camera, he takes photo after photo. Soon he photographs a skeleton and is brought up. After photographing his handler, whose name was later revealed to be Ava, not knowing the camera was radiation-powered, he is sent back down.
He finds the creature he found earlier and rams it to get a sample. This goes wrong, and he is knocked out in a cave, and the power of his submarine is off. So he finds the backup generator and gets the submarine operable.
The move from here turns very psychological as he navigates the caves. Mapping it all out, he ends up going into a circle.
As he gets low on oxygen, he goes into a delusional state of hallucinations and insanity. Soon, he wakes up after seeing a massive creature after entering through a gate of some sort. He is contacted by Ava, whom he reveals he got information about from a previous sunken submarine. He is tasked with retrieving the black box.
As he returns, still low on oxygen, Ava’s craft is destroyed. He retrieves the box, but is now attacked by the creature. He fends it off, strapping much of the information he got onto a life jacket. The monster destroys him, and the black box survives.
The movie was grand, in the most literal sense. A grand story of survival stuffed into a small, claustrophobic submarine. The industrial soundtrack plays a tune of a dying universe, humanity, sunk in the darkness, now grinds and grinds to live and not to die.
In this sense, Simon’s journey for his own survival mirrors that of greater humanity in this world. Dealing with forces outside his scope and comprehension, he marches on, he fears death, and desires the freedom denied to him by his world. Humanity is in the same boat. Arrested and forced to hurl themselves into a vast darkness.
While watching the movie, I could not help but think about Jonah and the whale. Simon disobeyed his world, was imprisoned, thrown overboard, and eventually swallowed. But inevitably, he got insight which could prove invaluable. Much like how Jonah came from the whale, speaking prophecy to the people of Nineveh.
Despite him being just a person, his actions were big; he saw the great monster and defied it. While dying in the process, he did not go without a fight.
Fischback did a fantastic job in the role of Simon. His ability to convey the emotions of defiance and anger that characterize Simon truly imprints on the watcher. We see Simon as a regretful man who clearly hates the circumstances in which he exists. His anger is present in every interaction he has.
The cinematography and set design were very well executed. You feel the claustrophobia and blistering heat of the submarine. The common close ups to Simon’s face convey well the struggle to keep moving forward.
The transition from a psychological thriller to a more of a bloody one was a bit jarring. However, to me, it was not necessarily bad. Both forms of horror did their jobs well and kept the viewer on the edge of their seats.
One bit of the movie that fell flat to me was the dialogue. While mostly it was just Simon talking to himself, the dialogue between him and the others via the microphone installed on the ship was a bit flat. Often coming off cliché and a bit off-putting. Especially his dialogue with Ava, though I do not blame the performance of the actor, but the writing itself. However, the dialogue between the SM-8 Researcher was very well executed, and some of the most penetrating lines in the movie.
I was a bit disappointed with the ending because I was hoping Simon would survive. But his death was thematic and fit for the story Fischbach was trying to tell.
For video game movies, this was excellent; for an indie film, this was also excellent. I am excited to see what Fischbach will come up with next, for he has great potential. The movie often dragged at points and had repetitive scenes of him simply navigating. There would not have been much lost if he had cut them. The writing sometimes seemed a bit tiresome, though the overall concept was novel and the cinematography excellent.
Overall, I would rate this a 7.5/10. This would be a great movie for Markiplier fans and anyone interested in independent films. However, beware of the gore in this film.
