Iron Lung - Movie Review

Warning: There are spoilers in this review. If you haven't seen it and don't want to be spoiled, go watch it.

I'm not too fond of movies that derive from a video game, but this one piqued my interest because of how compact of a space they used for the majority of the film. There also might be a little bit of bias given that I've been a massive fan of Markiplier since 2012 or so (when his Amnesia compilation was on his old channel, if anyone knows what I'm talking about).

Iron Lung is about a calamity that happened in the distant future where every inhabited planetary system vanished in a disaster called the Quiet Rapture. The only humans that survived are those who were on space stations. A moon called AT-5 is covered in an ocean of blood and humanity wants to know why. So they send convicts to find answers while piloting a welded-shut submersible (the Iron Lung).

Thinking about this movie the day after watching it has made me realize that the vibes are what really carry the first half of the whole thing. It's a lot of buildup, a lot of explaination, a lot of finding out why we're in the iron lung, and a lot of figuring out how things work. It's a lot of worldbuilding and lore establishing than it is a horror film.

That's another thing too. It's listed as a "psychological horror" but I would honestly call it a psychological thriller. Sure, there's some creepy stuff like the images of the monster flashing on the ship's camera and the body horror stuff happening in the latter half. But they didn't really scare me like other horror movies do. I was more on-edge wondering what's gonna happen next than bracing for scares.

Now do I recommend Iron Lung? If you enjoy the slow burn and care about the vibes and creepiness, sure. If you've played the original game the movie is based on, absolutely watch this movie.

But if you're expecting this to be a traditional horror film with the movie focusing more on the monster itself, you will only be satisfied in the last half-hour.

For me, I really enjoyed it and really enjoyed Mark's acting. It didn't really feel like I was watching "Markiplier in a creepy movie" to be honest.

8/10