Iron Lung is a movie based on a game of the same name. It was released on Jan. 30, 2026, and written, directed, and produced by Mark Fischbach, better known online as the youtuber “Markiplier.” The movie was a very enjoyable watch that had me and my appetite on edge the whole time—I would heavily recommend seeing it if you’re able to handle the extreme gore the movie showcased.

Set in a world where after an event called “The Quiet Rapture,” all planets and stars disappeared, leaving only space stations and moons. We follow someone who is simply referred to as “Convict” as he is sealed into a makeshift submarine that is lowered into an ocean of blood on one of the remaining moons. His mission is to take pictures of what’s down there to see if there is hope for humanity.
One thing I really enjoyed about it was the meticulous cinematography throughout the film. Even the smallest moments were given plenty of focus and tension, such as a point early on in the film where a drip of blood falls onto Convict’s hand and is promptly wiped off onto his pants—all three parts were given a separate shot, with each shot given just enough time to create tension, yet not drag on too long. This single moment had me excited for the rest of the movie due to the obvious love for filmmaking it showed.
Another great thing about the movie was the depiction of the protagonist’s mental state throughout the film. The protagonist descends into increasing madness through the film and you can feel every moment of increasing tension; every moment of the protagonist deciphering what’s left for them; as well as the very intense emotions he feels throughout the whole film.
From now on this review will go into much greater detail on both the story and scenes of the movie, so again if you haven’t seen it I would heavily recommend that you watch it if you’re able to handle some extreme gore.
One thing I thought was done really well was the adaptation of the game that inspired the movie. When going to watch the movie, I was concerned with how the almost monotonous, yet eerie hour of playtime would be adapted into a fully fledged two hour movie. However, while watching I was pleasantly surprised that it both spiced up the almost monotonous premise as well as leaned into it.
Early on, they make it more interesting by giving the Convict more contact with his captors: having him be pulled up from the blood ocean to be talked to by the captain of the ship that sent him on the mission. Partway through, Convict seems to get sent to a spot outside of his map when we get a montage of him making his own map based on his observations.
To note, much like the blood drip I mentioned earlier, it was both fast enough to not be boring yet still given enough time and weight to focus on the sort of monotonous nature of the scene. I absolutely loved this moment for this perfect balance it provided and how it played into the original material.
To finish off the review I wanted to talk about the ending. In the ending, the convict rams the submarine into the creature that’s been following him throughout the film. His objective is to get a black box with vital information back into the ship that brought him here as it might contain an answer for why the Quiet Rapture happened.
What I love is that there actually isn’t a conclusive ending. After he gets the black box secured in a life vest his submarine is fully penetrated by the creature and it shows a slow motion of it absolutely obliterating it halfway, and the movie ends. We don’t get confirmation on if the Convict survives, what his fate is, or even if the black box he fought so hard for in the end to get back to the others even made it to the surface.
While this might seem as upsetting as it leaves the story unfinished, I thought it was wonderful. The whole movie had left vast mysteries that weren’t answered and it was very unlikely an ending would be made that answered those questions in a satisfactory manner, it just wouldn’t fit thematically with the movie’s idea of trying to find a bit of hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. This theme and how the process of trying to find hope in of itself creates hope would have been ruined if we were retroactively given a justification for the search; if we were given hope at the end then the idea of the process itself being crucial would be lost.

The ending of the game was almost the exact same, with the monster breaking into the submarine and it ends there. No questions answered, with no conclusion or epilogue. I had a worry going into the film that it would attempt to solve the unanswered questions of the game, that they would explain what caused the quiet rapture, and what the fate of the world was—a retroactive satisfying conclusion to the plot. But that’s not what the movie did, it leaned into this idea heavily and showed direct faith to the original material.
Iron Lung made more splashes than just the film itself, with it making around 18 million on its opening weekend, making it 2nd place to Send Help which came in around 19 million, another movie that opened on the same weekend. This is, in my opinion, outstanding for one simple reason, Iron Lung was entirely self-funded and distributed.
“I had a conversation today with a fan … they said how cool it was that this was done independently and that this was really kind of an inspiration for people that wanted to get into making movies that it was even possible”, Fischbach said in a livestream on Feb. 1. He continues with, “It’s kind of a hero moment to showcase that indie film making was possible.” This was yet another reason for me to love this film, that it not only was a great film but also showed that indie films do have a chance at making it into the big leagues and rival even Hollywood. If you take anything from this review remember this, with enough passion and effort, even a small fish can make a big splash.