Mark Fischbach, better known as Markplier on YouTube, acts, directs and adapts David Szymanski’s 2022 video game in which a convict is welded into a metal container to explore a blood ocean in a dystopian age where the entire universe appears to be dying or dead. In the film, the convict, Simon (Markplier), sees something in that ocean using a camera whose images appear on a vertical screen in the back of the cabin. The screen is the length of the cabin and about as wide as a person. Does the screen offer an image of hope for the human race or death for Simon? According to horror video gamers, “Iron Lung” (2026) is the perfect adaptation of a video game, but what does a person who has almost never touched a controller and loves horror movies think? Two hours and five minutes of essentially a one man show in a single location with a limited lyrical introduction to orient viewers regarding a backstory is a lot to ask of newcomers. Your enjoyment will proportionally relate to how much you enjoy watching other people playing video games.
For moviegoers who have never watched a video game, essentially people make tons of money playing video games when viewers tune in to watch. It is hard to understand why some prefer watching over playing other than needing an additional buffer besides the avatar to separate them from the horror. Apparently, the avatar is still too close. For people who play video games, the story is not three acts per se, but the ability to explore a space fully and have a virtual simulation experience. (Thanks to a fellow moviegoer who wanted to remain anonymous for explaining this phenomenon to me.) In video games, when the avatar dies, it can begin again and cue more exploring. Essentially “Iron Lung” replicates this experience and could be the first of many movies. Markplier is already one of the biggest individual YouTubers and usually in the top ten or twenty of gaming creators, often ranking in the top two. He is so big that the game even features a “Markplier mode!” He does not need to make a movie. He wants to. It is self-financed, so it technically is an indie, but the filmmaker has deeper pockets than most indie filmmakers without major studio backing. Glad that I had a gift certificate to pay for the ticket.
The good news: Markplier can act. I go into movies with zero information. Other than knowing that “Iron Lung” came in second in the domestic box office numbers, is a horror movie and based on a video game, I went into the movie not knowing that Markplier is the same person as Fischbach. Fischbach must hold the audience’s attention for a long time and mostly succeeds. If he switched places with Chris Pratt in “Mercy” (2026), that movie would immediately improve. I had no idea that acting was not his day job. It also does not hurt that he is hot, has a great voice and an unknown face though game lovers did not seem to mind when they did know (they have different criteria). Because of his acting, I was willing to hold off frustration with the movie’s production and story shortfalls. Also, Simon’s history gets conveyed in flashbacks, voiceovers and dialogue. Though vague, enough of a sketch is provided, and Fischbach’s acting wins over the audience, so they remain invested in his plight.
For gamers, the point of the game is often restriction, getting limited to the player’s point of view and not knowing anything beyond the avatar’s perspective whereas many movie goers want a lot more. “Iron Lung” succeeds in replicating that gaming experience. It answers the major questions: how big is the ship, what is out there, who are the people behind the expedition, what are they hoping to achieve. It was a genuine surprise when Simon starts exploring the single room ship and kept the suspense going. One feature, not a flaw, is the inability to understand who is talking to Simon on comms, and what they are saying. If you love subtitles, you may be tempted to wait until the movie is available for home viewing, but it is best on a big screen despite the inevitable frustration of deliberate creative choice of bad sound. Christopher Nolan would be proud (derogatory, I hate how he uses sound on film). With the at home option of distraction, without immersion, this film would be challenging to enjoy for cinephiles, and the camera work on the ship distinguishes it from a stage play.
A lot of the plot’s momentum rests on the camera images, but if it was not for Fischbach’s reactions, it is like attending one of those abstract museum exhibits that would be virtually impossible to discern what is onscreen without the little card with a title and description next to it. Rorschach tests are clearer. Chthulu could have made a cameo, or it is just suggestible, wishful thinking. It is two hours and seven minutes to get a single blood drenched view of an image that is reminiscent of Gustave Doré’s Paradiso illustration, and it just is not enough weirdness. The trailers feel like the opening credits for “Daredevil.” The most buckets of (fake) blood in a movie is not enough of a payoff for desensitized horror fans. When the lights go off in the sub, it was the exact point when I checked out of the movie. A movie is a visual medium, and without a stronger story, why am I listening to a radio in a theater even if it is realistic. Without feeling like a strobe light , editors Fischbach and Marc Schneider work overtime to cut between objects in the sub to increase tension and explain Simon’s status. It is effective, but no substitute for story or other characters. It does not answer where they are per se.
The premise of “Iron Lung” is not spelled out as much as it is in the game. The ocean of blood makes more sense once I read about the game, but as a fan of premise fiction and cosmic horror, I was willing to go along with my mistaken understanding that somehow there is an ocean of blood in the middle of space. Hell, there are Congressional inquiries about aliens being in the ocean. It is just another day in the office. Blood, salt water, potato, potatoe (phonetic spelling, not a shout out to former Vice President Dan Quayle….I’m old). The real explanation makes more sense in an oneiric logic way. The Quiet Rapture refers to all life vanishing from the universe except for space stations. Rapture is already a religious cultural loaded word that does a lot of work. The blood ocean is not just floating in space. It appeared on a desolate moon in the game. The movie does not effectively convey it so if you are the kind of person who is going to get hung up on the logistics or feasibility of this plot, just skip it because you will feel like you’re in hell. The distinction does matter. It is not as if there is a lot of backstory that Fischbach needed to communicate to the audience and dropping the ball may not be an unforgivable sin, but it is a severe flaw in his writing capability or an assumption that only seasoned players are interested in the movie. While it was mentioned in the movie, it is a blink and miss it moment.
There are other characters, or at least Simon thinks there are. Caroline Rose Kaplan appears briefly on screen as the person barking orders at Simon and wearing a uniform with “COI” emblazoned in it. Gamers will know that the acronym stands for Consolidation of Iron. When other characters voices appear, there is ambiguity whether Simon is hallucinating. Because it is the twilight of the human race, Simon feels caught in the middle of an existential crisis conflict. Side with the Eden people and accept oblivion or side with COI and save humanity. He would just like to live without choosing sides. It is a relatable problem: the lack of choice and autonomy in life. Without Fischbach and other actors’ emotion, the cry would feel one note and more like whining. The point of story and dialogue is not just to sound poetic or realistic, but to find a way to say the same thing in multiple ways to flesh out the central point of the story. For those interested in spectacle, it is easy to miss the beating heart behind it.
I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen better. Strong in atmosphere and acting, but short on story, it makes me sad what the next generation of moviegoers want from movies. While I’m not going to shake my fist from a porch and scream, “Get off my lawn,” I am going to bemoan the state of the world, not the results. “Iron Lung” feels like a step back in terms of storytelling in terms of visual and word content, a gift that has existed since the beginning of humanity through oral traditions and pictures on caves though the film is far from devoid of meaning. It probably accurately depicts how people feel through the protagonist: a snapshot of experiences in disconnected isolation that never feel like a cohesive whole for the person living them, without community, without meaning.
