Iron Lung

The very aspects that make “Iron Lung” from director Mark Fischbach (better known to his legion of YouTube followers as Markiplier) succeed are the very same elements that cause it to unravel. A grungy, blood-soaked DIY chamber piece based on David Szymanski’s 2022 video game of the same name, it’s admirably restrained, being far more interested in creating a haunting ambience than raising your blood pressure. That pacing can be punishing, though, as one gets the sense it’s trying to be a touch too reverent to its source material. Fischbach’s good intentions may not translate to competent filmmaking, but he clearly understands not just the appeal of this story but of video games as a whole. For every moment that drags–like the film’s opening sequence, which feels like it takes an entire solar cycle–he finds new ways to make cramped spaces more terrifying. Overall, “Iron Lung” is a mighty endeavor, a project that speaks to the capacity for humanity’s creativity amid limitations. Anyone can learn the technical skills of filmmaking, but passion can’t be faked, and Fischbach has the latter in grisly, cosmic spades.

Iron Lung has much that makes you want to like it. It has a grimy, grimdark aesthetic that favours practical effects over digital cop-outs, a Lovecraftian vibe that blends cosmic import with mental fragility, a fair helping of Cronenberg-esque grue, and some neat visual touches. There’s the bizarre, literally sanguine setting for a start, which supposedly required more fake blood than has ever been used on a film production before. Then there’s the novel way that Fischbach’s solitary submariner has to perceive his alien environment, via briefly glimpsed, grainy black-and-white still images, and nothing else. It’s an eerily restricted point of view the audience is forced to share, as Fischbach (and his budget) deny us barely any exterior shots of the sub, or the bloody moon it’s navigating.