“Iron Lung,” a faithful film adaptation of the 2022 indie game by the same name, was directed by Mark Fischbach and released in theaters on Jan. 30.
Following his initial playthrough on his YouTube channel, “Markiplier,” where he expressed his love for the game, Fischbach announced that he would be adapting “Iron Lung” into a movie. He also noted that the film would be self-financed and that he would star in it. This information created a lot of excitement around the movie among fans of both Fischbach’s channel and the original video game.
Both the game and the movie adaptations take place on one of the many moons left behind in a futuristic, apocalyptic universe. The plot follows a convict named Simon, portrayed by Fischbach, as he navigates a mysterious blood ocean. The game’s entire playthrough consists of a character in a sealed submersible, nicknamed the Iron Lung, who is promised freedom if he is able to successfully capture photos of certain locations of interest.
Fischbach’s performance in this film was impressive considering his limited acting experience. Another notable performance was Caroline Kaplan, who played Ava, a character that served as Simon’s guide through the confusing setting.
Some changes to the limited content of the source material helped expand the story while remaining true to the game’s original structure and concepts. For example, the added character interactions throughout the film successfully expanded the story rather than simply having a character alone with his thoughts. However, most of the new plot points only added to the confusion in the storyline. While the newly added ideas were interesting ways to further expand the story, those scenes appeared only in brief flashbacks from Simon’s past and lacked the context needed to fully understand them.
As a whole, “Iron Lung” is an entertaining adaptation of a video game that turned into a fully fleshed-out film. While there were some aspects of the plot that were confusing, “Iron Lung” was nonetheless a thrill to watch and see how a video game adaptation can come to life from fan support. I recommend this movie to fans of Fischbach’s YouTube channel as well as any fans of the original game.
