I’m an old guy. I don’t follow streamers, I don’t keep up with social media influencers, and I don’t play many video games anymore. I’d never played the video game Iron Lung, and have never heard of YouTuber Markiplier. But my Gen Z son is a fan, and invited me to see the movie adaptation. I’m pretty sure I was the oldest guy in a (fairly packed 10pm showing) room full of 20-somethings, but I had a good time.
It’s a post-apocalyptic futuristic film taking place after a mysterious calamity has caused half the stars in the sky and a good number of space stations to go dark, to the point that humanity is on the brink of extinction. On an unnamed moon, scientists are looking for answers deep in a blood-red ocean. To further that effort, they’ve built a janky submarine and stuck a convict in it to go down and explore. His only view outside of the sub is a relic camera that captures still images and displays them on a view screen, and his only communication with the people sending him down is an unreliable radio. As the film goes along, we learn more about the convict, what sent him there, and what the scientists hope to discover. We also learn that he isn’t alone deep in the dark ocean, with some kind of large alien monsters lurking in its depths. Over time, the combination of low oxygen, high carbon dioxide, and the stress of the environment lead our main character to having a nervous breakdown, as it starts having increasingly bizarre and disturbing hallucinations.
The movie was alright. The lead actor is obviously not a “real” actor but he gives it his all (Markiplier was also the writer, director, handled production, and encouraged his online followers to request it at their local theaters in a true grassroots fashion; it paid off, with the $3 million dollar movie making $17 million+ in its opening weekend). The movie has lots of slow moments which don’t always help build the tension it is trying to build, but it is one of the better video game adaptions I’ve seen. I’m probably a little too old for it’s true market; when the movie ended the teen boy sitting in front of me turned to his friend and said, “That’s the best movie I’ve seen in a long time!” And it was a good night out with my son, always a plus! ★★★
Jons Movie Takes 