The ever so popular YouTuber Markiplier, Mark Fischbach, has become the latest content creator to step into feature length directing, with his debut being a faithful adaptation of David Szymanski’s game Iron Lung. Any first time director willing to step outside the norm deserves some credit for the attempt, and Fischbach certainly commits to the gamble, even if the final result doesn’t land quite as strongly as I hoped.

The film is a single location, claustrophobic sci fi horror set in a future where almost all habitable worlds have vanished, leaving humanity scattered across isolated space stations. Simon, played by Fischbach, is a convicted prisoner offered a chance at redemption by piloting a tiny submarine into an ocean of blood on a dead moon in search of evidence of life or valuable resources.

The game itself is brief, typically finished within ninety minutes, yet Fischbach stretches the adaptation to a bloated 127 minutes. That expanded runtime proves to be one of the film’s biggest weaknesses. Large stretches feel monotonous, with several dull and uninspired passages that linger too long and leave the overall experience feeling overly padded and at times, a struggle to get through.

The lighting is also annoyingly inconsistent. The heavy darkness makes sense given the setting, but there are moments where it becomes genuinely hard to tell what is happening on screen, which turns into a bigger problem than it should have been. The heavy use of shaky cam during the final act serves only to add to the confusion, making key action difficult to follow and frustrating to sit through.

That said, on a technical level Iron Lung is genuinely impressive for a debut feature. The sound design stands out, doing a lot of the heavy lifting in building tension and unease, even when the narrative payoff falls short. There are also some striking visual choices, especially in the final act, with one slow motion sequence that is particularly effective. The make up work is strong throughout and reaches another level near the end. Even so, the overall impression is that style often takes priority over substance.

Fischbach not only writes and directs but also takes the lead role, which is a bold choice considering his online persona. For the most part, his performance is solid. Carrying a film almost single handedly, especially in a first major acting role, is no small task. The transition from YouTube to the big screen works reasonably well, and I would be curious to see how he handles a more mainstream project.

Iron Lung is a promising yet flawed debut from one of the world’s biggest content creators and should still act as encouragement for aspiring filmmakers everywhere. Quite a bit did not work for me personally, but fans who have been waiting for this release will likely come away pleased, and in the end that kind of connection is a big part of what cinema is about.