The popular YouTuber’s self-directed, self-financed and self-starring adaptation of the 2022 horror game is slow yet excellently unnerving
By NATALIE SALTER—arts@theaggie.org
In April 2023, the popular gaming YouTuber Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach announced that he would be adapting “Iron Lung,” a 2022 indie horror game made by David Szymanski, into a self-directed film. Though not the first time the YouTuber had ventured beyond the familiar waters of Let’s Play content, this project looked to be his most ambitious endeavor yet.
Markiplier, who has 38.3 million YouTube subscribers as of February 2026, had already released a number of creative filmmaking projects on his channel by the time of this announcement. Most notable among them are a handful of choose-your-own-adventure stories in which the viewer can uncover countless imaginative endings.
These projects reflected Markiplier’s interest in more daring and professional creative ventures prior to picking up “Iron Lung.” However, the project marked a definitive step forward — not just in the tonal shift from imaginative comedy to horror, but in that it would be released theatrically and produced on a budget of $3 million.
The opening of “Iron Lung” introduces us to a future where human technology has advanced enough to allow space travel and the settlement of new planets. However, a mysterious and devastating event known as the Quiet Rapture has suddenly vanished all inhabited planets from existence, leaving only small pockets of human life drifting on space stations throughout the universe.
Running out of resources and desperate for any chance at survival, the only living humans have begun last-ditch efforts to reap what they can from the few remaining planets. This is the struggle that calls Markiplier’s protagonist, known only as “Convict,” to strike a deal with the remaining human authorities — in exchange for his freedom, he will undertake a dangerous mission exploring a moon covered in an ocean of blood.
Convict’s situation is dire. Welded into the small submarine with scarce controls but for a navigation panel and a camera to document his findings, the task he must undertake plunges him into unknown dangers with little defense. Still, he is desperate for freedom — desperate enough to endure the nightmare of the submarine for the promise of his life finally being his own again.
The horror of “Iron Lung” is largely conceptual and atmospheric in nature, though it continually ramps up throughout the film’s runtime. That the film’s premise is so unique and unnerving sets it apart from the contemporary horror genre upon its very first scene; however, viewers hoping for a traditional horror experience won’t find it in the slow psychological unease that “Iron Lung” constructs.
One particularly effective directing choice that Markiplier uses involves trapping the audience within the submarine alongside Convict. In the brief returns to the surface that Convict makes, the camera never leaves the sub; other people are only seen through foggy glass, their voices muffled by the layers of metal holding Convict in.
When paired with the ambience of the dimly lit, barren interior of the submarine, this narrow focus creates a suffocating feeling of claustrophobia for the viewer that builds suspense and unease. It emphasises the utter horror of Convict’s circumstances by projecting the discomfort of his situation directly onto the audience.
Still, this atmosphere can be stifling in less intentional ways. With a runtime of 2 hours and 5 minutes, “Iron Lung” must stretch its small-scale concept over a long period of time, which sometimes hurts its pacing. Though the film’s choice to linger on the unsettling details of the submarine’s interior builds discomfort, it can also slow the story to its detriment.
Likewise, much of the dialogue is difficult to comprehend, via indistinct sound mixing and overlapping speech. Coupled with the incredibly surreal and conceptual aspects of the film, which blur the audience’s perception of reality and call backs to events before the story’s start, the experience of watching “Iron Lung” can be at times rather confusing.
Convict himself begins the story as closed-off and dryly sarcastic, but the increasing peril of his situation slowly breaks his mental defenses and fortitude. It is not until later in the film, as Convict begins to descend into complete panic, that Markiplier gets to show the depth of his talents as an actor. He injects wild desperation into his voice and body language to viscerally and effectively convey the Convict’s collapsing mental state.
For Markiplier and his fans, “Iron Lung” has proved to be a triumph. Initially planned to be released for only a small number of theaters in North America, the effort of fans to convince their local theaters to show the film led to it being picked up by over 4,000 theaters internationally, including Cinemark, Regal Entertainment Group and AMC. Likewise, the film opened to a strong $18.2 million sales on its first weekend.
In a livestream broadcasted during the film’s release weekend, Markiplier spoke tearfully to his audience about how grateful he was for everything it had become.
“I just don’t want you guys to ever think it’s impossible,” Markiplier said via livestream.
Indeed, what stands out the most about “Iron Lung” is the clear passion with which it was made. Markiplier’s dedication to telling the story of the original game with inventiveness and care shines through in every one of the film’s scenes. Even where the film struggles, it stays afloat thanks to the sheer artistic passion with which it was made.
Written by: Natalie Salter—arts@theaggie.org
