As an avid Markiplier video watcher for the past (almost) 10 years, it excites me to be able to talk about something this cool. When I first heard the news about Mark Fischbach making a movie about a 2022 indie game by David Szymanski, “Iron Lung,” I was surprised. 

A YouTuber who makes “Let’s Play” videos and plays horror games… making a movie? Oh, wow. 

I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t rewatched his playthrough of Iron Lung a million times. I’m the type of person to need some background noise while I finish a task I am working on.Whenever that video comes on, I always end up watching the video instead of doing my work,ecause of how compelling the gameplay (and Fischbach’s commentary) is. 

The story of the game itself was interesting. The concept of the end of humanity inching closer and the only remaining survivors making convicts explore a moon covered entirely in blood oceans for resources.  

And having to do it welded into a submarine hundreds of meters below “sea” level with no escape?  

I understand why Mark had the idea of making a whole movie out of it. 

Following the announcement in early 2023, his video release schedule began to slow down almost entirely, and I’m sure every single one of his subscribers understood just how much effort he was going to be putting into this project of his.  

And all that effort from Fischbach and his production team was so incredibly worth it in the end.  

Getting the opportunity to watch the movie the day before general release and with my siblings, who were the sole reason I found him in the first place, was such a special moment for me. It wasn’t just the excitement of watching my favorite Youtuber on the big screen; it was the fact I was able to watch such an important feat in his career and in the gaming community.  

With just statistics alone, Iron Lung was shown in over 3,000 theaters in the United States and internationally. With only a budget of $3 million, in less than a week since release, he has made $22 million globally (as of writing this) in revenue and secured the number one spot in the charts in America for three consecutive days. 

I won’t be the person to spoil the movie for you if you’re reading this and haven’t watched it. But I will say that this IS a movie where you need to have some prior knowledge of the game to understand the entire background of the movie.  

Don’t watch it if you are easily squeamish towards blood! I had to look away from it for a few minutes! 

The aesthetic and overall vibe of the movie was well executed, and it truly made the viewers feel like they were trapped in the submarine nicknamed, “The Iron Lung” alongside Simon, the protagonist of the film. The claustrophobic feeling and addition of the blood of the ocean constantly dripping down into the submarine’s interior added to the eerie feeling of loneliness and fear. 

Fischbach’s Iron Lung was the perfect example of the fact that you don’t need a big company and production team to make a great movie. From going (literally) off the charts from how well it was doing compared to Hollywood movies, this is the achievement we needed to see in the film industry. 

A YouTuber — now independent film creator — directing, writing, starring in and editing his first ever project of this size is incredibly inspiring. Being able to make an incredibly successful movie from support and talent alone, is apparently hard to do these days… 

I do believe that the bigger movie studios might have gotten a little jealous of how well this, “unknown” director was doing in the box office, that Iron Lung was seemingly removed from the charts. Despite it doing better than Disney’s “Send Help.” 

In one of Fischbach’s most recent YouTube livestreams following Iron Lung’s debut weekend, he discussed the success the movie received and announced Iron Lung would be showing for another weekend. 

After looking forward to this movie for almost three years, I am so incredibly happy to see something so amazing be on the big screen and perform so well. There is hope that Fischbach will be able to release this film either physically or on streaming services.  

… And I am part of the group hoping for this. 

I 100% recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi Horror films. This film truly exceeded every expectation I had for it. 

Iron Lung was an amazing movie, and it had its tiny mistakes and flaws. Nobody is perfect! But the imperfections are exactly what makes this movie so special to fans of Markiplier, Iron Lung and the gaming community. 

Abigail Pedroza is the arts & culture editor and may be reached at [email protected]