Iron Lung
Directed by Mark Fischbach6.562%87%7.3
Set in a post-apocalyptic future where an event known as "The Quiet Rapture" caused all known stars and habitable planets in the universe to disappear, a convict is sent to search an ocean of blood discovered on a desolate moon, using a small submarine nicknamed the "Iron Lung".
Where to Watch Iron Lung
- James SaenzApril 12, 2026i love it when the exposition for my film is very dense and spoken between two characters who both understand the world and would have no reason to talk about these things diegetically, and yet somehow not manage to convey that exposition in an engaging manner. i love when the sound mixing prevents the expository dialogue from being easily heard because the score is too loud or the intercom filter is too grainy. i love it when none of my characters feel like real people. i love it when my cosmic horror boils down to big monster who distorts perception. i love it when the cinematography is so inconsistent, going from dynamic angles with minimal light sources to bafflingly composed shots like off center profile shots with no headroom and bad lighting. i love when a film is paced so poorly that it feels like twice its runtime. i like and respect markiplier, but he was wearing far too many hats while making this film and would’ve benefitted from hiring a more competent or seasoned screenwriter and director. adaptations, regardless of source material, should be able to stand on their own merit. as my friend said, i’m only willing to let so much go in exchange for shirtless markiplier. if i wanted to watch an excellent film directed by a youtuber i would just go back and watch talk to me or bring her back.
- MrReclusiveMarch 29, 2026I did watch this movie 2 times in 1 weekend when it came out.. and currently have a rather crappy copy i can watch at home (sorry mark, but until you release dvd, its what I gotta do) I do really enjoy the movie, it is long, but i like that. will never say its a movie for everyone, its not traditional horror, it will not hold your hand and explain itself to you, but i also don't believe you have to understand and know the game to enjoy it. I never payed much attention to the game, i had mostly listened to mark play it, I was working while I watched it so only half payed attention, and once I heard mark was making a movie, i refused to watch anything else on the game because I wanted as little info as possible going into the movie. So other then vague understanding and mark playing it in the background, i knew almost nothing about the game other then the premise, and I really enjoyed the movie, it is more of my type of horror in era where horror has becomes extremely predictable and repetitive. you won't have jump scares, you won't really be told whats going on, this is a movie you will have to pay attention while watching to even have a vague understanding, so put down tiktok while watching it. Am I biased? yes, I like mark, I am a big fan, but also have to point out I don't watch any of his fnaf videos because I HATE fnaf, so, its not a blind follow, and nothing against those who like fnaf, it just not my type of horror. I know mark is the "king" of fnaf, but what made me like mark was watching him play games like doki doki, and honestly just listening to him talk over the years, my kids were fans before I was, so i heard mark before I started watching him. and mark, is just a really good dude. but this is for iron lung, not mark. is this for everyone, hell no, this is a cult movie, will never be liked by everyone, but will resonate deeply with the right people. if you could care less about the never ending attempts to capitalize on what scream or final destination used to be, or are into movies like the belko experiment, cube, etc.. then you will probably enjoy this movie, as soon as you can legally watch it..
- HeavelFebruary 24, 2026The first ever motion picture made by youtuber Mark 'Markiplier' Fischbach as his first directorial debut is a banger of a movie as the movie showed relatively great quality in visuals, acting, narrative, etc in a relatively low budget film. This is based of the video game of the same name and as a video game adaptation, this is a solid experience for Iron Lung to be a watching experience as Mark being both to be faithful to the game as well as making it work in a film format. The movie as a whole mostly starts and ends within the confines of the interior of a submarine named from the movie title 'Iron Lung' where we view the story of a convict with no name until we learned his name is Simon midway through the movie who is navigating the sub to certain points of interest to redeem his past and be free within an ocean of human blood on a moon/asteroid in a universe full of dead stars and no life whatsoever. The movie like the game isn't really that detailed in explaining the whole backstory regarding the lore of this universe as we get vague info from the convict, sounds from the radio in the sub and flashback sequences which makes the experience feel organic since the audience is as oblivious as Simon. The fear and horror doesn't start with the monster from the poster, it starts with Simon being alone in a sub the size of a small bedroom with basic navigation controls, a com radio, a specific camera to get a visual look in the blood ocean as blood is opaque and some basic supply, and tool kit. If you learned the lore of the word of 'Iron Lung' from the game, the backstory makes it even more terrifying even without playing the game, the movie still tells you how much things are really that bad from an event known as 'The Quiet Rapture' as this event caused all life to disappear into darkness with not much evidence to show and proof its existence yet the final results showed. The monster is the least of Simon's worry as learning from backstories piece-to-piece, you'll learn that the situation is even more dire for Simon to do and for humanity as a whole which amplifies the fear and makes us root for Simon to save what is left of his kind to survive. Mark's passion project of his proved that youtubers can makes movie, through hard work in directing, writing, acting, VFX, engineering, etc with a collaboration with other individuals to work with they can make movies that work in a big screen, telling a great story, great acting and visually appealing. For the movie, the movie isn't exactly appealing from the cover and surface-level info for people who just want a straight-forward typical scary and thrilling film as this film requires viewers to take time and experience itself but it is a relatively great movie for being claustrophobic and emotionally thrilling experience.
- Jon SheffieldFebruary 14, 2026This movie had no discernable plot, it tries to be artsy but fails to really make any sense, the writer Mark Fischbach had to be smoking a lot of weed when he wrote the screenplay. Perhaps if you are really stoned it might make sense. Total waste of time if you are not a gamer or familiar with the video game.
- MithanelanFebruary 11, 2026Wonderful experience of cosmic horror. For those who say it's too slow paced, maybe if you got away from tiktok and Avengers movies, you can see the beauty in media that's meant to build up to a decent climax. Cosmic horror is just that, a build up. One I will willingly watch again over and over if I can. Small budget, yes, but on par with Black Mountainside and The Void, in my book.
- emmilyanFebruary 10, 2026This movie might just be my favourite horror movie. It plays more on the fear of the unknown and unsettling, rather than jumpscares. The way the movie has been made based off of the game is so well done, and I personally did not expect what was done. And I only mean that in a good way. This movie is perfect in every way, and it is such a huge win for indie movies. Anyone who disagrees with me are probably angry because of the pacing, but that just goes to show that their brains have been rotted from TikTok, reels and other short form content. Either that or they hate that it's not a Hollywood movie, and isn't a older popular producer and/or actor. You guys need to go outside and touch some grass, this movie is a masterpiece.
- Hipster ZOMBIEFebruary 10, 2026Iron Lung has been on the tongues of gaming nerds and YouTube fans. Iron Lung is a short, claustrophobic submarine horror game by David Szymanski where you navigate a blood ocean on a desolate moon to take photos, relying on primitive sensors and a camera as the sub's porthole is sealed. The player, a convict, must find and photograph points of interest, but is hunted by a creature in the depths. The film does same. Yes the claustrophobic atmosphere and impending sense of dread feels each scene. But if you don’t know how to effectively use the trick of ambiguity in a film like this, you run the risk of overusing it. First off the film is 2 long hours and could benefit from being only an hour. You also never really see the creature so the lack of payoff makes the film feel cheap. If the film was only 80 minutes maybe this would have worked but when you are dealing with a very long 2 hour run time and then no big reveal at the end, the audience feel cheated. Like what was the point? Now for fans of the game this film might be very faithful to the source material. But watching this as just a regular member of the audience the film felt like it had a lot of promise but had to pad a ton of time to keep it two hours for no reason. Again, if you shave off an hour of this film it would be a benefit to the viewer’s enjoyment. As it sits, Iron Lung might be as masterpiece to the initiated but fails to leave much of an impact with the average movie fan.
Iron Lung Trivia
Iron Lung was released on January 30, 2026.
Iron Lung was directed by Mark Fischbach.
Iron Lung has a runtime of 2h 5m.
Iron Lung was produced by Jeff Guerrero, Will Hyde, Amy Nelson.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future where an event known as "The Quiet Rapture" caused all known stars and habitable planets in the universe to disappear, a convict is sent to search an ocean of blood discovered on a desolate moon, using a small submarine nicknamed the "Iron Lung".
The key characters in Iron Lung are Simon (Mark Fischbach), Ava (Caroline Kaplan), David (Troy Baker).
Iron Lung is rated R.
Iron Lung is a Horror, Science Fiction, Mystery film.
Iron Lung has an audience rating of 8.7 out of 10.
Iron Lung had a budget of $4M.
Iron Lung has made $51.2M at the box office.