I don't think this movie can be reviewed properly without some background first, so let me start there.

If you know who Markiplier is, you can skip ahead. But if you don't, he is a well-known YouTube streamer who mostly records playthroughs of video games, usually horror. One of those was of the game Iron Lung. Apperently he liked it so much, he decided to make a movie about it, and with over 30 million followers on YouTube, he had the budget for it as well.

So what we have here is an independent YouTuber who decided he wants to make a movie based on an existing video game with a solid story. He paid for it, he directed it, and he is the main star in it. This is a feature-length film made by the professionals, not some cheap flick made by amateurs, and it should be reviewed as such.

But the movie suffers from the above facts. It seems Mark is counting on viewers of the film to know what the game is about and what's going on, because there isn't a whole lot explained. In a way, that adds to the personality of the film, but I'd appreciate a bit more hand-holding before jumping into the cold waters, or blood, in this case.

Things could have been better if it were easier to pick up the dialogue in the movie, but the settings of loud, ominous sounds in the deep ocean of blood, combined with the static of the bad comms, all fitting the settings, mean that it's even harder to understand what's going on. I started losing track almost as soon as the movie started. I'd recommend you go watch this movie with subtitles if you can, it would have sure helped me a lot.

But that's all the criticism I have, really. It is a solid sci-fi horror movie, and it feels real. Mark is not a Hollywood actor, but it doesn't stop him from delivering a strong and authentic performance. Yes, it's a bit rough or overdramatic at times, but so is the movie, and it works well together. You can tell he cares about making this work, and in my opinion, he did

Some argue that the movie is too long and drags on. I felt that some parts were repetitive, but looking back, I think it was because I didn't understand what was going on. For example, there are two different voices and thus two different stories, but they sound too similar to distinguish in the movie, so I thought it was just one person who, for some reason (my mind was happy to apply theories, such as alternate dimensions, conspiracy theories, etc.), was acting as a different person entirely

What we see on the screen is interesting and engaging. There are enough details to appreciate in the background. There are floating question marks that are placed in good taste (Did he just hallucinate this, or was that real? Is any of this real? Real to what degree?) that we're not meant to fully answer, and there's a rich, intriguing story going on.

About that: if you enjoy horror sci-fi, the game behind the movie has interesting lore to explore. I spent a good chunk of my night yesterday digging up more stuff. You could read up on it or watch some of the play-throughs of the game (Mark has a good one, in which he explores some of the lore updates to the game). The story of what happened is still stirring in my mind. I find that I want to learn more; I'd love to read up more about it if there were any books. The movie explores one angle, the one of the main character of the movie, which is a good example of Mark knowing what to expand on and where to add more to the existing story.

I hope big studios will take note of what a single passionate person can do, but as these things go, they'd probably only pick up empty conclusions, like the fact that movies based on video games are solid (wrong, the story is solid) or that inexperieced actors can be good behind the camera (wrong, mark has been doing his own form of acting for years, he does not lack experience.)

Get this movie to watch at home, with subtitles, when you can explore it and the story behind it further.