Written by Cameron Geiser

Any time a new voice is introduced to the world of film I enjoy checking out what they have to say, and generally welcome them and encourage people to seek their work out. Sometimes the work can be a bit unpolished or it can require a few things to be punched up here or there, but there’s no shame in stumbling with your first step in a new field of creative work. However it is extremely joyous when the work exceeds your expectations, which was exactly my experience with Iron Lung, the first film written, directed, edited, and starring YouTube’s Markiplier (Mark Fischbach). Iron Lung is a science fiction horror film and an adaptation of the 2022 video game by David Szymanski.

In this far future Humanity is a space faring civilization in which an event known as "The Quiet Rapture" caused all known stars and habitable planets in the universe to disappear. The remnants of Human life reside on a handful of space stations with a few contingents hell bent on discovering the cause of the quiet rapture and how to reverse its effects. This brings us to Simon (Mark Fischbach), a convict forced to operate the titular Iron Lung, a compact Submarine, on a remote moon of interest that consists of an ocean of blood. His sentence is to follow orders emanating from the intercom on board while exploring the depths of this strange soupy moon, taking pictures of his environment along the way. Simon’s combative rhetoric with the authority controlling his fate is understandable, but what I enjoyed most in these exchanges were the little nods to his past and the nature of the larger world they exist in. In fact, the sense of mystery paired with the well executed tension were two of the best aspects of this freshman effort.

*Iron Lung* is a commendable debut effort by YouTube’s Markiplier/Mark Fischbach.

While Simon may have been exploring an ocean of blood the film is essentially a one location, one man show.. mostly. The overlords of Simon’s fate are several voices from the ship orbiting above the blood moon. These are two characters in particular, Eva (Caroline Rose Kaplan), and an unknown man (who I believe is voiced by Troy Baker but I could be wrong) working under her who holds conflicting views but holds the line as “This is bigger than any one of us”. Markiplier makes the most of this small set with increasingly creative shots and just enough variation in what Simon must go through as things get increasingly abstract and dire. The tension was well executed as the monsters lurking in the darkness occasionally thrash his sub, coil around it threateningly, and peek at Simon as he frantically takes pictures of the things going bump in the night. Frayed wires, aging analog tech, fires, power outages and the constant threat of blood crushing the Irong Lung from the pressure- there is always a new problem that Simon must face. This is all while his sanity frays amongst the stressors of the scenario.

There are only two things I could suggest at all to improve things on the filmmaking side of things. First would be to add an opening text setting up the world to add just a bit more clarity but I wouldn’t say it’s absolutely necessary. Given that I am familiar with Markiplier’s work on YouTube and have seen his videos on the game that this film is based on, I wondered if things would be as clear to the uninitiated? This is the smallest of whims though to be fair. Secondly in the third act there were two loud voices talking over each other while one is clearly more important to Simon in the moment and I wish the sound mix was clearer but again, a small complaint at most. Markiplier’s first film was a success. He added a lot of narrative to a game that had a fertile ground waiting for more depth and he showed real skill in performance and direction in particular. If he chooses to continue making films, I’ll be there to watch them.

Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.