I think the first half of the film is the the strongest and the middle being the best of all its cogs, aside Mark's okaaay acting throughout. Cinematography was pretty good and got creative with the limited space to shoot. The sound mixing was off all over the place, music too loud here, dialogue too soft there; just needed more tuning. As the story progresses, so does the contrast. This movie gets dark. Like real dark. I could barely see what was happening in the sub in the latter half, especially at the end with all the shaky cam and quick cuts. That end sequence was terrible. Mark I think relies too much on people knowing what the game's premise was. Sure he gives exposition, but some times it's a bit too vague for new audiences to fully grasp. I was actually pleasantly surprised how well Mark scripted it out to work in the confines of a single set. Though, he lets stuff linger, or adds filler scenes in that I don't think need to be there. Didn't need to be 2 hours. The set design I think seemed a bit empty and ridiculous with that control panel. I know it's accurate to the game, but it just looks silly with those big ass numbers and dials. Thankfully, it does leave your mind after a bit in. The blood work and prop designs are pretty sweet. The colour choices too and again, the camera work has to be commended. Now, that second half is where the movie looses it's footing and just get's too generic cosmic horror when it could have been so much more with this IP. I knew Mark and David were going to expand a little on the lore, but I feel like they gave too little context for Simon. His backstory and conflict I think would have benefited from a bit more shown in that regard. There was a lovely shot of them at a [spoiler]tree[/spoiler] that was gone in a split second. More of that sequence please, even if not right there. The conclusion I quite liked... after I looked it up to see what happened as I couldn't pier through the dark veil. But I enjoyed it and how it expanded on the game. I do see this being a bit too cryptic for newcomers, but if you enjoy that sort of thing, give it a whirl. Not a bad start for Markimoo's theatrical directing debut. **6/10**

terrible... 3 milion dollars wasted

This film was genuinely great, I have never played the game so going into this blind I wasn't sure what to expect but it exceeded my expectations by so much, the world of Iron Lung is such an interesting concept I loved getting to see every bit of it! [spoiler] I personally don't think you need to know what happens in the game to understand this film, in my opinion it's moreso about the experience of Simon and not the world itself which I think is what a lot of people are looking for instead, he's a convict focused on earning his freedom, he simply just wants to survive he's not looking to learn all the mysteries of the universe but he has to because that's the only option he's given, and we see that through his lens of the world. I oftentimes prefer when cosmic horrors leave some points up to interpretation, the reason why so many grand mysteries are grand is because they're mysteries, seeing the characters live out the experiences is what makes it so fun to watch!! [/spoiler] Iron Lung is truly a labor of love and I respect the amount of hard work that went into this film, the practical effects and set were so great, the photos were so eerie I loved them I really wanna know how they made them. Markiplier's acting was also pretty good in my opinion, the dialogue was nice and very to the point which is quite refreshing, the writing was overall just great in my opinion, being limited to one set seems like it'd be so restricting but they really did a lot with it. I really love seeing content creators branch out and create their own works of art, I often see people rag on YouTubers who are interested in filmmaking but like idk if my career was centered entirely around media I'd also totally make my own stories and give back to the ones I love if I had the opportunity, I feel like so many big Hollywood films now lack creativity and authenticity, I'm so tired of seeing filmmakers being restricted by big corporations that don't care for their art. I really hope more films like Iron Lung are possible in the future, getting to see more projects like this get the same amount of attention and care would be amazing, I'm so happy this film exists and if Markiplier decides to make more films I sure as hell am going to go see them.

This is basically similar in concept to Slingshot. However, I did enjoy Slingshot more tbh.