Markiplier’s Iron Lung Movie Review: How a YouTuber’s Passion Project Took Over The Box Office

I finally sat down and watched Markiplier’s Iron Lung movie, and honestly, I never thought I’d be reviewing a film made by a YouTuber.

Over the past year alone, we’ve seen a surprising wave of big YouTuber-led movies hit theaters. What’s even crazier? Both of the major ones turned out to be horror films. And as I’m writing this, Markiplier is literally going head-to-head with Sam Raimi at the box office with Send Help.

You absolutely love to see it.

This movie has clearly been Markiplier’s passion project for years, easily four years, maybe even longer. And now, after seeing the film, all those hospital photos he’s been posting over the past few years suddenly make way more sense.

It also explains why he wasn’t in either of the Five Nights at Freddy’s movies. Out of all the YouTuber cameos you’d expect in those films, Markiplier felt like a guaranteed appearance. But nope, he was busy pouring everything into Iron Lung.

A True Passion Project From Start to Finish

What makes this whole thing even more impressive is how personal the project was.

Markiplier didn’t just star in the movie.

He self-financed it, spending around $3 million of his own money.

He also wrote, directed, and edited the entire film himself.

Yes, he had a small team helping him, but for the most part, this was his vision all the way through.

He even revealed that he had to fight his distributor just to get the movie released in theaters at all. The original plan was to send it straight to streaming platforms like Netflix because the distributor didn’t think it would make money.

At first, it was only going to have a tiny run in a handful of small theaters.

But Markiplier pushed harder, partnered with larger theater chains, and slowly expanded the number of screenings.

And just like that, a small self-funded YouTuber movie ended up playing in theaters near pretty much everyone.

Usually, that kind of release only happens when massive studios are involved.

Markiplier handled about 99% of it himself.

The Box Office Numbers Are Absolutely Wild

Now here’s where things get really crazy.

The movie cost about $3 million to make.

On opening day alone, it earned around $9 million.

And the opening weekend forecast? Roughly $16 million.

That’s insane.

Of course, Markiplier doesn’t take home all of that. Theaters typically keep around 50% of ticket sales, and the distributor takes a cut after that. In the end, he probably earns somewhere around 25–30% of the total box office.

But even with that split…

He already broke even on opening day.

Meaning he officially made back his entire investment within 24 hours.

And at the time of this review, Iron Lung is the number one movie in America.

Yeah, take that, Sam Raimi.

Once the full weekend numbers came in, he wasn’t just breaking even anymore.

He was actually making money.

But what makes this even cooler is that Markiplier never made the movie to get rich.

He’s said multiple times that he fully expected, and was prepared to lose millions of dollars on it.

Honestly, if he’d just stuck to making regular YouTube videos these past few years, he probably would’ve made way more money than he will from this movie.

He didn’t do this for profit.

He did it because he genuinely wanted to make a movie and prove himself creatively.

A New Era for YouTubers in Hollywood

We’re officially entering a new era of YouTube.

If you told me back in the early days of the platform that YouTubers would be releasing successful movies in real theaters, I never would’ve believed you.

Most early YouTuber movies were things like:

• The Fred movie
• Shane Dawson’s films
• The Smosh movie

And while those were fun passion projects for fans, they never really broke into the mainstream.

But over the past few years, things have changed.

Chris Stuckmann just released Shelby Oaks, another horror film.

Bo Burnham has found massive success with his movies and TV shows.

And now Markiplier has joined that list with Iron Lung.

What Is Iron Lung About?

For those who aren’t familiar, Iron Lung is a science fiction horror film based on the 2022 horror game of the same name.

I personally hadn’t played the game before watching the movie, but from what fans are saying, the film sticks pretty closely to the original story.

Markiplier plays Simon, a convict living in a distant future on an alien planet.

Across the universe, a mysterious event called The Quiet Rapture cuts off all communication between planets. Humanity believes they might be the last humans left in existence, on the edge of extinction.

Because of Simon’s crimes, the remaining survivors force him to pilot a tiny submarine known as the Iron Lung.

His mission?

Travel deep into an alien ocean to recover a sample of a massive alien skeleton on the ocean floor.

If he succeeds, he earns his freedom.

One horrifying twist: the ocean on this planet is made entirely of blood.

(And no, the movie doesn’t really explain why.)

A Descent Into Madness Beneath an Ocean of Blood

Without getting into spoilers, the movie follows Simon’s slow psychological breakdown.

He suffers from:

• Severe radiation poisoning
• Hallucinations caused by chemicals he’s forced to drink
• Alien plant life that begins overtaking his body

All while trapped inside a tiny metal box beneath an endless sea of blood.

So basically…

For over two hours, you’re watching Markiplier slowly lose his mind, die painfully, and fight a horrifying alien creature in one of the most claustrophobic settings imaginable.

It gave me strong vibes of:

• Buried (2010) with Ryan Reynolds
• Moon (2009) by Duncan Jones

Small-budget sci-fi thrillers where you’re almost always stuck with the main character in a deadly situation.

But honestly?

What Markiplier pulled off here feels even more impressive.

Ryan Reynolds and Sam Rockwell were already established Hollywood actors.

Moon also had a budget about three times larger than Iron Lung.

Markiplier came into this with basically no traditional film background, just his YouTube originals like In Space with Markiplier.

And somehow, he still managed to pull this off.

Markiplier’s Performance and Filmmaking Growth

It’s important to remember:

Markiplier isn’t a trained actor.

But between his YouTube projects and Iron Lung, it’s clear he has real talent.

He genuinely commits to the role. He’s not just doing his usual loud YouTube reactions or playing things for laughs.

You can tell he poured everything he had into this performance.

The movie has only been out a short time, and he hasn’t said whether he wants to keep making movies, but after how intense this project was, I wouldn’t blame him if he took a year just to sleep and recover.

The Flaws: It’s Not a Perfect Movie

Now let’s be real, the movie isn’t flawless.

It’s a very slow burn.

Some scenes go on a bit too long and hurt the pacing.

The Simon character could’ve used more backstory and emotional setup early on.

We get glimpses of his past through flashbacks, moments about the tragedy that landed him in prison and the guilt he carries, but I wish the movie explored that more.

The film also leans heavily on exposition.

And in movies, it’s usually better to show rather than tell.

That said…

None of these issues ruin the experience.

A Massive Win Overall

Despite its flaws, Iron Lung is a huge achievement.

Pretty much everyone in Markiplier’s life told him not to do this.

They warned him it was risky.

They said it was foolish.

They said he’d probably lose millions.

And he proved them all wrong.

The movie ends on a strong note, and even leaves just enough room for potential sequels, though it would take some creative maneuvering for him to continue Simon’s story.

There’s no traditional post-credit scene like a Marvel movie, but during the credits you’ll see:

• Behind-the-scenes footage
• Easter eggs for longtime fans
• The names of supporters who helped fund the movie

So yes, you might actually get to point at the screen and do the Leonardo DiCaprio meme if your name’s up there.

Final Thoughts on Iron Lung

Whether you end up loving the movie or not, you have to respect what Markiplier accomplished.

He took a massive risk.

He funded it himself.

He handled nearly every aspect of production.

And he delivered a movie that’s not only playing in real theaters, but dominating the box office.

This is a huge stepping stone if he decides to make more films in the future.

And if he doesn’t?

He still walked away with one of the most impressive YouTuber-to-film success stories ever.

If you’ve seen Iron Lung, drop your thoughts in the comments.

And if you haven’t?

Go check it out, maybe even twice.