Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I took myself on a date Thursday night. It was very romantic. I first went to a bookshop to pick up a new book for myself (this was because I had forgotten to take my book with me, and could not spend the evening passing time without a book. It is law that if you forget the book you intended to bring, you must procure a new one. I don’t make the rules (I do, in fact, make the rules)). I do so love a bookshop that is full of books. So many have “branched out” relegating the books to a tiny corner and filling the space with other stuff. I’m diverting, but this is a worthy digression.

Anyway, after treating myself to a new book, I ventured over to a restaurant and treated myself to dinner and a couple of drinks. Given how cold it was in Ottawa Thursday night (-22C or so before the windchill… I might be wrong, but I think that is somewhere around -8F), I was surprised by how busy it had gotten; a fact I only realised when it was time to pay up and head over to the cinema. It is a very good book, so far.

So off to the cinema I went, with a full stomach, to watch the new indie horror film Iron Lung, scripted, produced, directed by and staring YouTube personality Markiplier. I did not know what to expect. I have spent the better part of the lead up to the release of the film avoiding everything to do with it in order to go in as fresh and unspoiled as possible. I was expecting it to be very much an amateur film; rough around the edges, perhaps a little silly where it ought not b… you know… normal mistakes from amateur filmmakers with their first feature. I did not get what I expected.

Let me start by just giving a general overview of the movie:

I loved it. It’s the kind of movie that sat with me long after it ended. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since Thursday night. I can also say that I was extremely impressed with it; the look and atmosphere of the film, as well as the acting.

Was it a perfect film? No, absolutely not. But it was good. Genuinely, honestly, really good.

I have read a couple of reviews of it now, and I agree with some and strongly disagree with others.

First of the film itself. It is a slow burn. It eschews the loud, flashy nonsense that often hits at the beginning of a film in the belief that it will keep us interested in the rest. The mood created by the directorial and cinematographic decisions do that exceedingly well. At least it did for me. I know from other reviews that some people found it too slow, particularly in the first half, but I did not. At all.

Beneath the “nothing really happening” of it all was an abiding sense of unease, sometimes building into dread, and with some very frightening moments indeed. I can think of several moments that would have had me noping out of my very mind so fast were I the one in that rickety old submarine. It was so pervasive that I found myself riveted to my seat, even if all I was seeing was the protagonist trying to navigate his way through a cave system completely blind save for an X-Ray camera with which he can take snapshots to help him “see” whatever is in this ocean of blood he is travelling through.

What results is a more psychological kind of horror that swings into the kind of surrealism you might expect of a mind being toyed with by an unknown thing… I don’t want to give to much away, because I do think that it’s very worth taking yourselves out to see. But I was very, very glued to my seat the whole time.

Everything in the stillness of the first half felt deliberate, creating a rising hum of dread and giving room for the mystery of both this situation and the protagonist’s past some time to breathe.

Which brings me to the next criticism I’ve heard; that the mystery was never really revealed. There is an abiding sense of mystery that never sees a resolution. What happened to cause the quiet rapture? What about the protagonist is being hidden? Not a lot is revealed in the end. This is a problem for some people. I did not find it so myself. We know and discover as much of the world and events of the larger universe as the protagonist we follow, which is all we need for this story. We also know as much of the protagonist and his past as he is willing to reveal; and some that he is not. We, as the audience, are expected to put it together ourselves. We aren’t spoon-fed anything.

As someone not steeped in the lore of Iron Lung myself, I genuinely appreciated the faith Markiplier had in his audience. Did I catch everything? I don’t think so. I would like to watch it again, but I am fairly certain I know everything I need to about the protagonist, though. As for the greater mystery; the quiet rapture… well… we don’t need to know. That’s not what this story was about. It was about the protagonist’s decent into the blood moon. I very much enjoyed that about the film; that it was a contained vignette of a harrowing decent set in the backdrop of a much larger story/universe.

Some of my favourite novels also do this, so perhaps because I tend to like this style of story-telling in my reading, I found it easier to accept in the watching. It’s not something that we are usually given in film, so I can understand why it might confuse or annoy some viewers. Incidentally, Rogue One is another story that gives us this kind of story-telling. It’s a small story set in a larger world/universe and nothing in that world save that small story is resolved. Rogue One also happens to be my favourite Star Wars film. So… be aware I’m speaking from a particular bias towards this kind of story.

Another note I have read from some reviewers, especially those who have been watching Markiplier for a while, is that they had an issue separating Markiplier the personality from the character portrayed on screen. I did not have that problem. I was genuinely impressed with the acting. That said, I am probably the least critical person ever. When I’m reading or watching anything, my suspension of disbelief engages quickly and efficiently. It has to be pretty egregious writing or acting that will pull me out of a story. It absolutely has happened, but not in Iron Lung. I genuinely think Markiplier did an incredible job.

It helped that there were some very relatable moments from the protagonist that instantly put me in their shoes. From the first “Fuck me,” I knew I was extremely compatible with the protagonist. Everything they did made sense, and sometimes provided some levity. The frustrated “fuck you” typed into a computer when it denied access after requesting a password for the umpteenth time gave me a good chuckle. That’s something I would absolutely do. The frustrations, the loss of temper… all of it felt true to life. I feel that in a less-skilled actor, these moments would feel forced or campy; cringe, as the kids say. They didn’t.

Honestly, it was the quality of the acting that took me most by surprise (no offence, Markiplier). I am quite used to seeing Markiplier hamming it up on camera, both during his let’s plays, and also on the projects he’s written, produced, and published on YouTube (Date With, Heist With and In Space With Markiplier, as well as the Warfstache stuff). In these, he is very much a caricature of himself. Large and loud and very Markiplier. He was much more contained in Iron Lung, and it was easy for me to see him as, well, not Markiplier.

Now, it wasn’t perfect. This is where I’m going to sound most like an old fogey, but here we are.

There were issues with the sound mixing, making dialogue really difficult to parse at times, particularly at the climax of the film. I feel like a lot of meaning and emotionality was lost in the noise at the end, which is a shame. I expect that the confusion was at least partially the goal. After all, our poor protagonist has been dealing with audio and visual hallucinations/projections for a bit now, and there is, in fact, a cacophony of voices in his mind at that point. Still, somethings needed to be heard, and they weren’t able to come through. I think, perhaps, I’d get more of it on a second watch-through. Hopefully we’ll get a physical to-own version of the film so I can do just that (yes, I absolutely would spend money on that).

There was also a lot of visual noise that gave me the same problem; just in the climax. It did serve well to make the action feel frantic, which is absolutely the mood required for that. But it did suffer a lot from what a lot of modern movies do – too dark, or too monotone, too shaky etc. I figured out what was happening in the end, but watching it was sometimes confusing and difficult.

Also, there was some limited body horror that could have played differently. The way it was included, it did feel like just a thing that was thrown in just because. Everything the body horror achieved in the film could have come from an external, rather than internal source (being deliberately vague ‘cause I don’t want to spoil anything, damn it!). I think the script would have been just a little bit tighter with it having played just a bit differently, in my opinion.

Despite its flaws, I really, really enjoyed this film. The writing was solid. Visually, it was stunning, and far more polished than I thought it would be. The acting took me by surprise it was so competent. I loved the slow burn, the unsettling atmosphere, the psychological, cosmic, Lovecraftian-ness of it all.

Markiplier has some experience with writing, producing and directing visual media. He’s done plenty on his channel. But as a debut feature film, I can’t imagine it having been done much better than it was. Some have made the case that it could have been shorter, but I honestly did not notice the time pass. I genuinely enjoyed it. It was well worth the price of admission, and if you get the chance, I’d recommend seeing this on the big screen.

Bonus points if, like I was, you get to sit beside some super fans who absolutely lost their minds at the end of the film – not least of all seeing a certain name in the credits (also, the fact that Seán McLoughlin was credited as playing a character named Jack made me giggle. A nice little wink I’m hoping was a deliberate bit of cheek. For those not in the know, Mr. McLoughlin is another YouTuber who made waves in the let’s play days and his channel name is Jacksepticeye). Their excitement was as adorable as could be.

I myself was surprised at some of the names attached. Yes, Mr. McLoughlin was a surprise, but so was Troy Baker. I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Baker as an actor (as many gamers do, I’m sure), and it was really nice to see him attached to this little indie film; a surprisingly big name in this passion project.

I might be giving this a pass because my expectations were set much lower than for bigger budget things, or perhaps because I’ve been watching Markiplier for a bit and I’m predisposed to liking they guy, but I don’t think that second one is very likely. The first might be. Whatever the reason, I walked out of that cinema really, genuinely impressed.

Look, this film for me stands on par with bigger budget movies in my not-a-professional-film-critic opinion. While I’ve been watching Markiplier for a while now, I’m not a stan in the way many others are. I’m not talking as a fan of Markiplier. Also, if you’re used to and like the flash and bang of the kinds of movies that have been unthinkingly pumped out of Hollywood of late, this one won’t be for you. This is a different kind of film. That said, I genuinely think this movie is good; as good as any others I’ve seen in the cinema. It’s absolutely worth the watch.

So… Markiplier… White Knuckle film when?

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When S.M. Carrière isn’t brutally killing your favorite characters, she spends her time teaching martial arts, live streaming video games, and sometimes painting. In other words, she spends her time teaching others to kill, streaming her digital kills… and sometimes relaxing. Her most recent titles include Daughters of Britain, Skylark and Human. The Timbercreek Incident is free to read on Wattpad.