Nate At The Movies

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Over the last week, I’ve become unexpectedly interested in the directorial debut of one Markiplier, reading articles and watching interviews and even his Let’s Plays of Iron Lung from a few years ago. I think the idea of a YouTuber jumping into filmmaking appeals to me, especially when Mark Fischbach is doing just about everything to get this movie to the country, from directing, writing, and starring to even editing and distributing. No matter what I think of Iron Lung, I am immensely impressed with and proud of Markiplier for flipping the theater industry on its head, if just for a moment. Now, let’s talk about this movie.

For a directorial debut—from a YouTuber, no less—Iron Lung was technically quite impressive. Single location films can be really tricky, and Markiplier kept the setting refreshing with creative cinematography and sectional independence, making each part of the small submarine feel very unique. The shot selection and color were both highlights for me, and Markiplier really took the game’s visuals to the next level. The visuals, sound, and practical effects all contributed to an eerie, unsettling feel, where it was hard to know what was going to happen next, even having just seen Markiplier play this game.

As for the performances, Markiplier held it down in this mostly solo role. His emotional range was greater than I expected, and though the dialogue that he gave himself wasn’t always the best, his individual performance got the job done. His castmates—of which there were few—also contributed, the voice performance from Caroline Rose Kaplan being the most memorable. The score was solid, too, though nothing to write home about, and I liked how Markiplier took the time in the credits to shout out nearly every person who worked on this movie with a cute little photo.

Unfortunately, amidst these positives, the writing suffered pretty greatly, and I think the largest problem was that the “price for entry”, so to speak, was far too high. The game, as I learned from watching, leaves a lot unanswered, and Markiplier seemed to do the same with a complicated and unexpected narrative. I can appreciate the big swings he took, but there were large chunks of this movie where I felt lost. I was waiting for the movie to follow the game more closely, and while I’m glad it didn’t, I think Markiplier dug too much into the lore and left some viewers behind. Nevertheless, I was interested for most of the movie, and the ending, while confusing and bloody, was memorable.

Iron Lung was a lot of things—incredibly ambitious, at least 30 minutes too long and painfully slow-paced, and cinematographically unexpected, in the best sense—but above all, it was an audacious and somewhat successful feature debut from a really dedicated YouTuber. It was going to be a big challenge to top the Philippou Brothers for the best YouTuber film debut, but Iron Lung was good in a number of places, even if the writing needed some fine-tuning. I’d like to see Markiplier in the director’s chair again sometime soon, but hopefully with some support in a couple areas: writing and funding. I’d be interested to see what he could do with a bigger budget and without the entire movie on his shoulders. For a first try, though, my hat’s off to you, Mark; see you at the next one!