Going in Blind on Markiplier's Iron Lung: Sound Over Spectacle and a Confusing End

I went into Markiplier's Iron Lung completely blind, and the movie kept my attention the entire time. I watched it with my friend Tina, who knew nothing about it either. I came away impressed, especially by what the film did with sound and with the budget it had, even though the ending left me confused at some points.

Why Tina and I Went Into Iron Lung Knowing Nothing

The week before, Tina and I watched Hokum together, which we really enjoyed, and I hadn't seen that one either. That's one of the things I wanted to do more of. A lot of the time I've been reacting to things I've already seen. With our mutual friend Sam, for example, we've been going through the Star Wars movies, which I've seen many times over, and she just found out that Luke and Leia were twins. It was the most amazing, pure reaction, and I was so jealous of it. So I wanted to start watching things I hadn't seen in theaters or had just missed.

That brought us to Iron Lung. Tina hadn't heard of it. I'm pretty sure it's based on a game, though I told people they could correct me, because I expected to get a lot wrong. The guy who made it, Markiplier, was a YouTube guy, and he got this made the same way other creators got projects like Backrooms, Obsession and Digital Circus off the ground. Iron Lung came out in 2026, it did really well, and it was one of the big success movies.

I thought Tina and I had watched Shelby Oaks together, another film made by a creator, though I said I'd have to go back and check. There have been a ton of creators making movies and TV shows, and that's inspiring for me, because I'm trying to do the same thing.

Iron Lung Opens Like a One Man Movie in a Box

The first thing I thought of was Tom Hardy in Locke, where he's just in the car the whole time. It felt like that kind of movie, and the question came up right away whether the whole film would be one man in this box. The opening text did confirm it was based on the game, which was a big clue.

Early on, the images from the ship's camera were compared to looking at a sonogram. The read on the main character was that he looked like a guinea pig and was not in control of the mission. The bruises on his wrists raised the question of whether he'd been in restraints, which would make him a prisoner, and maybe someone forced to be there.

The sound design stood out from the start. The creepy liquid, gurgling sounds came up as something that really painted how dire the situation was. When it turned out the camera worked using radiation and nobody had told him, the reaction was that it wasn't his fault: how was he supposed to know?

Theories About Simon and What He Was Seeing

As the story went on, the theories started. After he's told he's the first one they've sent down, one idea was that Simon was already dead and having flashbacks. Later, the theory came up that the thing he'd seen earlier was his own demise, and that the voice he'd been listening to before was actually himself, and that idea got agreement in the room.

The supply kit got a lot of attention. It had tape, alcohol and water, everything he needed, which raised the idea that maybe he had left it there for himself, with some kind of time element involved. There was also a lot of urging not to drink the whole thing and to conserve it. Midway through, the feeling was that he wasn't going to make it, or at least wasn't going to be happy at the end of the movie.

Small details caught our eye too, like noticing that the wound on his face had been healing, which raised the question of how much time had actually gone by.

Not Showing the Monster Brought Jaws to Mind

At one point Tina and I both landed on the same comparison: this is Jaws. The point made in the discussion was that you don't necessarily have to go outside and see everything. Not knowing what's out there is so much more impactful, and you get scared because you don't know what's out there.

Why Iron Lung Kept My Attention the Entire Time

The main thing I give Markiplier credit for, as the YouTuber who's the star of the movie, comes down to a comparison. Locke, the movie I immediately referenced, had Tom Hardy, someone who's pretty established. Iron Lung had this guy, and he was able to keep my attention the entire time. It came up that he's basically locked in a metal box for an entire movie.

As Tina and I discussed, they did things with the budget they had so that they didn't have to rely on bad CGI or bad set pieces. They were confident enough in the story and the sounds to make it entertaining, and they held my interest the entire movie.

It was a sound movie for sure, with so much audio that the point came up that you'd have to go back and listen to it again, because there's a whole segment where you get the backstory in snippets of audio. I liked the science fiction, post apocalyptic, horror element of it all too. I don't mind gore if it's relevant. When his arm comes off, that's because it gets stuck and he has to do it. The problem for me is when gore is overly excessive, and I thought this worked well. "I was impressed with this movie."

Symbolism, Salvation and an Ending I Wanted to Read Up On

The point came up in our discussion that there's a lot of symbolism in it. Slasher movies can get so bloody that it becomes a joke, but here the movie is saturated with blood because the movie is about the blood, which was interesting. There's also the salvation element running through it.

The ending was where the confusion set in. During the final stretch there were questions about whether all the files he downloaded were for nothing, and the guess was that the sound at the very end, which sounded like a helicopter or something, meant he got it up. I thought it worked well, but I was definitely confused at some points, and I'd like to maybe read up on it later to find out what things meant. That's probably what I'll do.

What did you make of the ending of Iron Lung?