Iron Lung

Iron Lung is distinguished by the same creative ambitions that ultimately make its ending seem like a watery solution after such an airtight setup. The film is an undeniable breakthrough for the filmmaker, even if he's got both too much chutzpah and too little experience to stick such a tough landing. Iron Lung's not a flawless debut, but it has a bright future as a cult classic.

“Iron Lung” is audacious and at times astonishingly boring. Still, it feels more enthusiastic and celebratory than many blockbuster adaptations built on safer math. Insisting that the mission is bigger than any one person, including its creator, the film opens space for more daring, messy attempts to follow. For indie cinema, that alone may be worth the ordeal… if not, the gallons of blood.

Iron Lung is a stripped-down sci-fi horror film that uses isolation, sound, and suggestion to create a claustrophobic indie horror experience that thrives on tension more than payoff.

Iron Lung is an interesting little concept, smeared too thin across a far-too-long running time. The pacing throughout is so leaden and monotonous the effect is frankly soporific, and despite Fischbach's arguably admirable intent and exertion, this low-budget sci-fi horror makes Event Horizon look like 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Hopes that Iron Lung is a new Dark Star are soon sunk by the depressive tone, leaden pacing and near-total absence of spectacle; this is basically a radio-play script that insistently has to tell, because this barebones production has nothing much to show.

The debut feature film of writer and director Mark Fischbach, better known to the internet at large as Markiplier, is as surprising as it is atmospheric. It's in the very clear coordination and trust he has with his cast and crew. In a way, the film itself is a mirror of the submersible his character is forced to pilot: flawed, surely, but strong enough to complete its mission and deliver an exceptional experience.