Welcome back to the Study Break where today we’ll be dissecting the famous Youtuber Markiplier’s first ever film, “Iron Lung.”
Markiplier is a gaming Youtuber who has adapted the video game “Iron Lung” onto the screen. However, it is his first film and it’s gasping for something beyond mediocrity.
Based in a dystopian future, a convict named Simon, played by Markiplier, is placed in a submarine by himself and has to surf his way through an ocean of blood. The team in control of his mission is looking to find important resources for their survival.
This movie was placed in the horror/sci-fi genre, however, with almost no jump scares and intensely slow pacing. I never felt scared.
With the whole two-hour film being in a cramped submarine, I tended to get bored as I was looking at the same shots over and over again. The minimal space to work with didn’t feel claustrophobic, but rather dull as we are given no other setting throughout the whole movie.
The overuse of the “f” word in the script felt like a shortcut trying to produce angry emotions. This made it seem like Markiplier’s character was repeating himself, creating a redundant narrative.
Where I can give this film credit is what they produced with the budget. This movie isn’t visually bad. The immense amount of blood is gruesome to look at, and the quality of the inside of the submarine looks great.
The movie was just released on Jan. 30 and by Feb. 2, the less than $3 million dollar budget has turned into a $21 million dollar profit. This is an impressive feat. It is not grossing because of the quality of the film, but rather the popularity of Markiplier and the video game.
“Iron Lung” will definitely kick start a lot of indie videogames being translated onto the screen, which I have to pay my respects to.
If you are a huge fan of Markiplier or the video game “Iron Lung” I’d recommend watching this movie in theaters. If you are a casual movie watcher, do not go see this movie.