This review contains spoilers. 

While film critics often have eyes on high-profile actors at the weekend box office, audiences across the country are insisting we should keep an eye out for one film with a relatively atypical YouTuber cast: “Iron Lung.”

Originally announced in 2023, debut filmmaker Mark Fischbach — otherwise known as Markiplier — brought the indie sci-fi horror video game to life through directing, starring in and co-writing the feature film. 

Adapted from David Szymanski’s indie horror video game of the same name, “Iron Lung” embarks on an expedition so murderous it mirrors an execution. Viewers follow Simon, a convict desperate for redemption (Fischbach) on a mission to earn his escape to freedom through marine research. 

Simon is given one choice throughout the film: chart the crimson-red alien ocean that lies below the surface or die trying. True to the video game, the camera rarely leaves the titular “Iron Lung,” a compact submarine with a dark past. 

Throughout the film, it is apparent Markiplier is committed to creating a loyal adaptation of the video game. 

However, this feat is nearly impossible in practice. In the video game, “The Player” is nameless, becoming a vehicle for the explorer behind the screen to trek through the unknown world. 

As a result, the film’s primary weakness is Simon himself. 

Simon is written as an expanded version of the player, yet he never establishes himself as a personality in the film despite being a world-renowned internet celebrity. In a brief exchange with Ava (Caroline Kaplan), the Captain of Consolidation, viewers learn his name and his past. But, this plot point is quickly abandoned. 

Markiplier’s performance aggravates this problem. It’s clear that he is an aspiring actor still grappling with visual techniques that are integral to performances as emotionally taxing as Simon’s. 

While playing “Five Nights at Freddy’s” on YouTube allows Fischbach to showcase authentic fear, this masochism does not translate well to solo performances. 

Simon often requires someone to bounce off of, as interactions with his jailer produce possibly the best, and arguably the most intense moments of the film. 

When alone, Fischbach relies on bleak puns that never quite land and redundant dead air to fill moments of quiet.

However, the final act of the film compensates for the movie’s faulty writing and pacing in its first two, showcasing angsty chaos and gory madness that puts viewers on the edge of their seats.  

Following the game’s original ending, Simon finds himself consumed by the cosmic blood ocean, before sabotaging the Iron Lung. He extracts the engine from its hull, killing both himself and the alien creature.

“Iron Lung” suggests that the future of game-to-film screen adaptations looks quite bright. When entrusted to developers that not only appreciate, but insert themselves into their material, directors can produce high-quality film that stays loyal to the game’s fanbase. 

While “Iron Lung” was both high-spirited and astonishingly boring at times, Markiplier has paved the way for a new path in indie cinema — a path full of sacrifice, bravery and, of course, gallons of fake blood. 

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