Iron Lung (film)
2026 sci-fi horror film by Markiplier
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Iron Lung is a 2026 American independent science fiction horror film starring writer, editor, and director Mark Edward "Markiplier" Fischbach (in his feature-length directorial debut). It is based on the 2022 video game by David Szymanski. It also stars Caroline Kaplan, Troy Baker, Elsie Lovelock, Elle LaMont, Mick Lauer, Seán McLoughlin (Jacksepticeye), Isaac McKee and Alanah Pearce. The plot follows a convict (Markiplier) who is forced to pilot a submarine through an ocean of blood on a desolate moon following an apocalyptic event known as the "Quiet Rapture" that caused all the stars and habitable planets along with their human inhabitants to disappear without warning.
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- Will Hyde
- Jeff Guerrero
| Iron Lung | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach |
| Written by | Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach |
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Philip Roy |
| Edited by | Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach |
| Music by | Andrew Hulshult |
Production companies | Markiplier Studios Iron Lung Productions |
| Distributed by | Markiplier Studios |
Release date |
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Running time | 125 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $51.2 million[2][3] |
Development on an Iron Lung film adaptation began in April 2023, when Markiplier announced he would be adapting the game into film. Markiplier, who had previously played Iron Lung on his YouTube channel, stated it would be self-written, self-financed, and star himself alongside Kaplan. Szymanski had been involved with it since pre-production, assisting with its story and being on set during filming.
Iron Lung was self-released by Markiplier in North America on January 30, 2026. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a box-office success, grossing $51 million worldwide.
Plot
In the distant future, an event called the "Quiet Rapture" causes all stars, planets, and the human population to mysteriously vanish, with only those on space stations and spaceships remaining.
A man named Simon is convicted and imprisoned for his involvement in destroying a space station known as Filament Station. He is sent to a newly discovered moon and forced to pilot the SM-13 (a submarine with a sealed porthole nicknamed the "Iron Lung") through the depths of the moon's ocean of blood. In order for Simon to see, he must take still images using a crude camera, and he receives limited communication from his crew on the surface. In exchange for completing the mission, Simon is promised freedom. During the dive, Simon captures images of a skeleton on the ocean floor and is briefly brought to the surface but is tasked with collecting a sample from the skeleton. Simon demands to be freed and activates the camera, but the crew's commander berates him, explaining that the camera is an x-ray imaging device, which has heavily irradiated the crew outside of the submarine.
Simon learns that he is not the first pilot of the Iron Lung after discovering a seed medallion left by the previous pilot. He captures an image of a living creature and is again tasked to take a sample of the creature. As Simon explores the moon, blood and congealed liquid drip into the submarine. After collecting a sample, Simon is knocked unconscious. He awakens and the camera continues capturing images of a large monster nearby. He repairs the sub and attempts to return to a charted area but begins hallucinating.
He later finds a wrecked submarine called the SM-8 but is unable to access the data within its black box. A woman talks to him through the radio about a godly light beneath the ocean, which Simon believes he is hallucinating. Simon experiences a vision of a sea monster on the surface slinking back beneath the blood and a giant eye filling a stormy red sky. Simon awakes again, and the commander says he has been missing for several days, far longer than his oxygen supply should have lasted. She tells him to recover the data of the other submarine, promising to rescue him herself if he complies, as well as revealing her name to be Ava. Meanwhile, blood and congealed organic matter collect inside the submarine. Simon discovers that the skin on his arms has become cracked and blistered due to physical contact with the blood.
Simon reaches SM-8 and accesses its data, including audio logs confirming that the blood ocean comprises human blood, and that one of the submarine's crew began obsessively drinking it before their sub was destroyed. As the submarine becomes flooded with blood and fleshy matter, Simon learns Ava cannot rescue him. She apologizes and asks him to protect the SM-8 data because it may save what is left of humanity. Simultaneously, the mysterious woman's voice tells Simon to destroy the data. The sea monster destroys Ava's vessel and attempts to kill Simon next. Simon, struggling to move through the blood and fleshy material growing in the submarine and onto his body, ties the black box to a life vest as his body begins rapidly mutating. Just as the blood makes contact with the cracked medallion Simon holds, the seed within mutates into a fully grown tree that implodes the submarine from within upon being bitten by the monster, killing them both. The life vest and the black box are shown floating on the surface of the ocean.
Cast
- Markiplier as Simon, a convict
- Caroline Rose Kaplan as Ava
- Troy Baker as David
- Elsie Lovelock as the voice of the Monster
- Lovelock also appears as a research lead on the SM-8
- Elle LaMont as the voice of the Monster
- LaMont also appears as a research assistant on the SM-8
- Mick Lauer as the voice of the previous occupant of SM-13
- David Pettitt as the Father
- Holt Boggs as Eden Soldier
- Seán McLoughlin as Jack
- Alanah Pearce as a Familiar Voice
David Szymanski cameos in the film as himself. Additionally, Rahul Kohli, Ethan Nestor, Valkyrae and Mika Midgett all provide additional voices.
Production
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Development
On February 16, 2023, David Szymanski joked on Twitter that Mark Fischbach and Seán McLoughlin (known by their online usernames Markiplier and Jacksepticeye, respectively) would be starring in a film adaptation of the game Iron Lung, which Fischbach and McLoughlin had both played, with a soundtrack by Andrew Hulshult, slated for a summer release.[8][9] In an interview with Variety on March 8, 2023, Markiplier confirmed he was directing, writing, and acting for a film, but did not state what it was.[10] On May 7, 2023, McLoughlin confirmed on Twitter that he would be in it.[11][12] Szymanski assisted with the script and pre-production, and filmed a brief cameo.[9] Andrew Hulshult was also confirmed to be scoring,[13] in what would be his first film soundtrack.[14] Markiplier previously directed and wrote the YouTube Original films A Heist with Markiplier (2019) and In Space with Markiplier (2022).[15]
Filming
On April 21, 2023, Markiplier officially announced a film adaptation of Iron Lung with the release of a teaser trailer.[16][17][18] Additionally, Deadline Hollywood reported that Markiplier was also self-financing, co-starring with Caroline Kaplan, and producing with Will Hyde and Jeff Guerrero; filming had already commenced in Austin, Texas.[15]
During production, Markiplier confirmed that Iron Lung would contain the most fake blood of any horror film, beating 2013 film Evil Dead's 50,000 US gallons (190,000 L);[19][20] during filming, he had to go to the hospital after getting too much fake blood in his eyes.[21] In a YouTube livestream posted on December 7, 2025, he revealed that the approximate amount of blood for the final movie was over 80,000 US gallons (300,000 L).[22][23]
Post-production
On April 29, 2023, Markiplier announced on his YouTube channel that filming had been completed, marking the beginning of the editing and post-production process.[24] In July 2023, Markiplier revealed that he is a member of SAG-AFTRA, and that the production of Iron Lung would be delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[25] On October 14, 2023, Markiplier published the official trailer of Iron Lung on his YouTube channel.[26][27] On October 16, in a livestream on his YouTube channel, he stated that he had turned down a role in Five Nights at Freddy's (2023) in order to produce Iron Lung, due to the two films having conflicting production schedules.[28]
Release
In June 2024, Markiplier announced that it was "officially done", and that he was in the process of negotiating its release.[29][better source needed] On December 5, 2025, Markiplier published the release date trailer and opened ticket pre-sales.[30][31] Despite an initial slated release in only 60 independent US theaters, Markiplier encouraged fans to request it directly from their local theaters, leading to a grassroots word of mouth campaign reaching Cinemark, AMC, and Regal Entertainment Group, among several others.[31][32] As of the official release day, January 30, 2026, it showed in 4,161 theaters worldwide.[33]
Iron Lung debuted in North America, the United Kingdom,[34][35] Australia,[36] New Zealand,[37] and some European territories with Piece of Magic Entertainment.[38][39] Along with the release, some theaters partnered with local donation centers for moviegoers to donate blood, with a goal of breaking the world record of 37,000 donations.[40][41] In February 2026, Markiplier expressed interest in releasing Iron Lung on DVD and Blu-ray.[42]
On March 3, Warner Bros. India announced they had acquired domestic distribution rights to the film, and subsequently uploaded the trailer to their YouTube channel.[43][44] The film opened in Indian theatres on March 13.[45][46]
Streaming and home media
In the following months, Fischbach announced that the film would be digitally released on YouTube Movies on May 31, 2026. In exchange for streaming exclusivity, YouTube agreed to make him an aggregator himself and keep control of the film's distribution. For the physical release, Fischbach printed DVDs and Blu-rays in his home rather than selling them through a third-party manufacturer.[47][48]. The film was released early on May 29, 2026.[49]
Reception
Box office
As of May 2, 2026, Iron Lung grossed $41.1 million in the United States and Canada and $10.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $51.2 million.[2]
In the United States and Canada, Iron Lung was released alongside Send Help and Shelter. It opened with $3.5 million on Thursday previews and was initially projected to make $9–10 million domestically on opening weekend. [50] After an $8.9 million opening day, including Thursday previews,[51] projections were increased to $14–17 million. [52][53] It opened with an estimated $17.8 million from 3,015 theaters per Variety and Deadline, though it opened to a slightly higher $18.2 million when official figures came out. [54][55][56]
Critical response
Metacritic review
breakdown (unweighted)
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 48 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The website's consensus reads: "A claustrophobic video game adaptation that can veer into just plain stifling, Iron Lung is more interesting for its production than its story, but it conjures enough atmosphere to announce Mark Edward Fischbach as a filmmaker to watch."[57] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[58]
Some reviewers praised Iron Lung for its visual approach and atmosphere, while others criticized its slow pacing and Markiplier's performance.[a] Writing for The A.V. Club, Simon Abrams praised the film's attention to detail and noted its potential as a cult film, though he also characterized Fischbach's performance as "distractingly monotonous".[59] Zachary Lee of RogerEbert.com wrote that the film's visual language was "consistently interesting" and that it was "more interestingly shot" than comparable productions but criticized Markiplier's performance as sounding like he was rehearsing; Lee gave the film 2.5 stars.[60] Tasha Robinson of Polygon compared the film to slow burn horror such as Skinamarink and We're All Going to the World's Fair and argued it was "pretty frightening".[61]
In more negative reviews, Eric Goldman of IGN rated the film 4/10, citing its pacing and "low energy" but praising Andrew Hulshult's score.[62] Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave it two stars and described the production as "barebones".[63] Dan Jolin of Empire also gave it two stars and called the film "leaden" and "monotonous", finding that its "low-budget sci-fi horror makes Event Horizon look like 2001: A Space Odyssey."[64]
Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote that the film "could have used a wee more actual horror content".[66] Alison Foreman of IndieWire gave the film a C+ and called it "audacious and at times astonishingly boring".[65] Luis Pomales-Diaz of Horror Press called the film a "worthy successor" in the cosmic horror genre, praising its special effects and final act while describing Markiplier's acting as "hit or miss, but mostly hits".[67]
