⚠️MAJOR IRON LUNG SPOILERS⚠️
Ok, so, I went to go see Iron Lung on the 11th and it was amazing.
Markiplier really translated the entire vibe of the game into a movie perfectly. He knew when to show the scary shit and when not to and never lingered on it. Despite so much of the movie being long pauses and silence, it was super suspenseful and put me on edge the exact same way that the game did.
The mystery of everything was also fantastic. Nothing was ever explained and it never held your hand, it just left everything up to interpretation. Hell, it didn’t even fully explain Simon’s backstory. Usually, when films add some sort of backstory to an already existing IP, it’s WAY over-explained and often doesn’t really add anything to the original material. When it came to Simon, though, we were only shown vague fragments with very little exposition that directly ties back to why he’s here in a way that isn’t confusing or shoehorned in.
Everything about the mystery was confusing but not nonsensical, if that makes sense.
Also, no cheap jumpscares!!! That is SUCH a fresh breath of air. There wasn’t some loud noise every time something creepy happened, like when that shadowy blob slid behind the wall, when that creature covered in welts was sitting in the chair, when the monsterous fish slinked back into the cave, it was silent, letting you fully feel the rising horror all throughout your body instead of that cheap, quick release that only pisses you off instead of actually being scared. It allowed you to feel dread.
And the set design?! Look, the very nature of its appearance could’ve made it look a little silly when brought to life. All the buttons were bulky and inherently videogame-y, but the crew somehow made it work, made it believable. It definitely helped that everything else was so immersive though. If it had been executed poorly, the set design would’ve definitely been a nitpick of mine lol.
But that just goes to show the immense power of a well-written movie vs the visuals that accompany it. A set can be as flashy or as cheap looking as you want but that means nothing if the script and story aren’t doing the heavy lifting.
The ONLY issue I had with the film was some of the acting. Mark sometimes lingered on a line too long with blubbering and stutters and over-acted in some parts which would slightly take me out of the movie. Caroline also over-acted quite a bit. I understand that in the context of the movie, it’s a very stressful situation with high stakes, but Ava would yell at Simon very often in moments where I don’t think it was warrented. I feel that she should’ve had a more stern or angry tone in those moments without yelling.
Elle and Elsie were phenomenal at their roles, however. Whisper/Speaker’s line delivery was top-notch. The way she would gradually sound more manic as the hallucinations got worse or the cosmic fish got closer was absolutely bone-chilling. They fucking killed it.
The special effects team was also great, both for the CGI and practical effects. The moment Simon peeled away his arm wraps was stomach curdling. I will say that when his arm got ripped off though, it was kinda funny. Not because the arm looked like a cheap prop or anything, it was just kinda funny how immediate it was and like… there was no buildup of the bones popping out of their sockets, it just straight up ripped from his shoulder lmao.
I think part of the reason for that, though, is it would’ve been much harder to pull off (pun not intented) the effect of the joints dislocating cuz then you’d need like a silicone arm with parts inside to make the rigidity of the bones believable and yada yada yada. So I do understand why they went with the decision to fully sever the arm instead.
Besides, you could argue there’s an in-universe reason why it happened so easily. Perhaps the toxic blood was weakening everything to the point that he could easily be ripped apart… almost like he’s being digested.
Finally, we get to the end of the movie where everything happens in quick succession but not in a way that feels rushed or forced. The cosmic fish is after Simon and he’s desperately trying to save the black box. Again, Elle and Elsie are fucking beasts in this moment, making you as scared, confused, and frantic as Simon is. Btw, I haven’t seen anyone talk about this yet but the cosmic fish was 100% telepathically using Whisper/Speaker’s voice to lure Simon in like a horrifying mimmick. It seems to be an amalgamation of people and souls merged into one, after all, so perhaps that’s why it knows how to use Whisper/Speaker’s voice and memories to its advantage. She was a real person but was absorbed into the cosmic fish.
Btw (sorry for all the tangents and side theories lol), the cosmic fish has a lot of visual similarities to a female anglerfish so this whole absorption thing and the “bright light” lure is fucking genius.
Anyways, it’s teased at the end that the black box might have made it to the surface so I’m really excited to see if there will be a sequel, either as another movie or a game. But, I wouldn’t mind if there isn’t one because it stands alone on its own perfectly.
All-in-all, Iron Lung was fantastic and I can’t wait to see more projects like this from Mark.
