Mark Fischbach, known on social media as Markiplier, wrote, directed, and starred in his debut film, Iron Lung. The film, which debuted in theaters on Jan. 30 with a budget of roughly $3 million, grossed $9 million opening night, tripling what it took to make the film. During its first weekend, Iron Lung grossed over $20 million, making it the #1 movie in America for several days. This achievement is nearly unheard of in the world of independent filmmaking.
Iron Lung is not just the brainchild of Mark Fischbach, but was inspired by an indie horror game by the same name created by David Szymanski. In fact, Fischbach and Szymanski worked very closely on the film project, making sure to unite their shared creative vision for a film format. Despite being an adaptation of a game, Iron Lung is a horror film first and foremost. Unlike other video game to film projects, such as the Minecraft movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s, Iron Lung is not a tongue-and-cheek retelling with quips and one-liners. It’s a project relentlessly faithful to its source material, not only utilizing the base story but thoughtfully expanding in areas the original game didn’t.
The premise of Iron Lung is simple. You are trapped in a rusty-looking old submarine. Every entrance is welded shut. You are exploring a moon, named AT-4, which is completely desolate and barren except for its ocean, which is made of blood. Exploration and survival is necessary in order to attain the vague promise of escape by the few other people you have interacted with. Mark takes this premise and expands upon it. His character, Simon, is a convict, and his only way of getting home free is to explore this blood ocean in this rusty welded submarine for a coalition of people. The dialogue is fascinating, namely because there is a limited amount of it in the film, so the viewer really has to pay attention to what’s being said and shown. Fischbach’s backstory is mysterious and meant to leave the viewer thinking about the limited information they’re provided. Not much is spelled out for the viewer, which is a quality not many films or TV shows share in modern times.
Iron Lung isn’t a film for everybody. It’s slow, it’s tense, and it doesn’t spoon-feed the viewer information. However, in a world dominated by Netflix and other streaming services, where films and shows are edited because they aren’t “second screen enough,” Iron Lung is a true breath of fresh air. It’s a wholly unique experience, carried primarily by its intense atmosphere and Mark’s emotional, frustrated acting performance. Simon, the protagonist, is one of very few characters on screen during the whole film. It takes a good actor to hold their own as the protagonist of a film, but it takes a great actor to successfully be the majority of the film themselves. Because Fischbach is a YouTuber, there was a possibility that he would fall into the trope of “YouTuber acting,” or over-exaggerating dialogue in an awkward fashion, being overly animated, and overall being inauthentic. This is not at all the case in the film. At the beginning of the movie, it can be observed that Fischbach hasn’t fully grasped his character yet, and is slightly dipping into these “YouTuber acting” traps, but quickly finds his way out of them after he is isolated from the other characters. From that moment on, Fischbach’s acting is phenomenal.
Iron Lung is a detail-oriented film. It was a passion project, and you can tell from every part of it. Each shot is meticulously telegraphed to draw the viewer’s eyes to certain objects inside the submarine, to make the viewer feel stressed or relieved, and to notice every single little detail. The music and sound design is fantastic. The viewer gains a unique perspective on what the inside of the submarine actually feels like. Some parts of this film are disgustingly immersive in the best way possible. While I could go on about specific scenes of this film, I feel my writing could never truly do it justice, and I would be robbing you, the reader, of being able to experience this nearly perfect adaptation.
Overall, Iron Lung is a wholly unique film in itself. It’s an incredible adaptation of the source material, was made specifically to empower independent filmmakers, and highlights the talent and resourcefulness of Fischbach. It’s possible that because of the success of Iron Lung, we will see the rise of more YoTtubers making successful feature length films with theatrical runs.
