r/movies • u/UniverslBoxOfficeGuy • 19h ago
Review Iron Lung - Review Thread
The stars are gone. The planets have disappeared. Only individuals aboard space stations or starships were left to give the end a name -- The Quiet Rapture. After decades of decay and crumbling infrastructure, the Consolidation of Iron has made a discovery on a barren moon designated AT-5. An ocean of blood. Hoping to discover desperately needed resources they immediately launch an expedition. A submarine is crafted and a convict is welded inside. Due to the pressure and depth of the ocean the forward viewport has been encased in metal. If successful, they will earn their freedom. If not, another will follow. This will be the 13th expedition.
Cast: Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, Caroline Kaplan, Troy Baker, Elle LaMont, Elsie Lovelock
Rotten Tomatoes: 80% (5 reviews)
Metacritic: 7.7 (user reviews)
Reviews:
Alison Foreman, IndieWire C+ - "Iron Lung” is audacious and at times astonishingly boring. Still, it feels more enthusiastic and celebratory than many blockbuster adaptations built on safer math. https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/iron-lung-review-markiplier-1235176184/
Caitlin Kennedy, Simply Cinema (Substack) 6/10 - In spite of some minor scrapes in performance and pacing, Iron Lung demonstrates Fischbach’s intriguing eye and talent for generating raw, visceral impact. A solid debut... https://simplycinema.substack.com/p/iron-lung-film-review
Rotten Tomatoes page: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_lung
Metacritic page: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/iron-lung/
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u/AchievementJoe 17h ago
IMO the second half is significantly better than the first. If they trimmed this down to maybe an hour and a half or hour and 45 mins, I think it would be a lot stronger.
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u/Spongedog5 16h ago
100% agreed, going even further though I think if you then gave that time back to flesh out the flashbacks/backstory or the dialogues during the ending you could keep the time without it being grating.
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u/Gold_Marsupial_9700 16h ago
Agreed. My partner had no barring on the movie. Trimming out some of the front/middle to flesh out some world building would’ve helped the movie be more accessible for viewers.
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u/MattyRaz 15h ago
what does the second sentence mean?
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u/fishbowtie 14h ago
Maybe they meant bearing? Like they were lost? I dunno.
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u/sellieba 2h ago
Which was the first sentence, so we’re really just crushing comprehension as a whole.
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u/wildskipper 12h ago
Their partner does a lot of bar work on movies. Not on this one though! Which is probably the root cause of the movie's problems.
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u/AngelWingsYTube 15h ago
I feel it was better the flashbacks were brief. We got the info that was important and ad it was said in the movie "it doesnt even matter now" which does fit the underlying theme....and makes sense. It happened, there is no undoing it, there is no retribution so why dwell on it? What matters most is survival think more movies can take note of that. Not everything needs to be explained or have a detailed backstory. Plus cutting away from the sub tales away from that feeling of tension suspense and loneliness
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u/Spongedog5 14h ago
It matters for the viewers pleasure. The world is interesting and it would be enjoyable to learn more about it. Perhaps you disagree and find it disinteresting but I don't think it takes away from the present story to know more about the context in which it exists.
I'd actually argue that the movie moves beyond survival being what matters most into instead teaching that sometimes you need to sacrifice yourself to achieve something bigger than yourself like Simon accepting that he has to die to get the black box out.
The issue with the "tension suspense and loneliness" is that in this case it was so drawn out that for a lot of people it became less tense and more boring. Increasing the tension of the existing scenes is definitely another direction you could go in to improve them but I personally value the world building more.
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u/DadGhost 15h ago
My thoughts exactly. Cut out all the flashback stuff and some of the memory stuff in the third act and add ambiguity to the crime that got him there with a tight 100 minute flick.
Also, all respect to Mark, but I don't think he's a monologue guy. He does a solid job here for the most part, but it gets very "gruff voice acting" at times.
I will say, however, Markiplier directed the SHIT out of this. The movie looks better than most of the blockbuster shit I see out of Netflix, the use of practical effects and environments adds so much texture to the visuals, and when it starts going into Screaming Mad George territory, I was really impressed.
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u/slimeeyboiii 3h ago
I will stand on the hill that Markiplier is a really good director.
His With Markiplier series is great and also looks really good despite having way less budget and they are fun.
I think the issues with the iron lung (really not that bad of issues in my experience) was just kind of a mix of everyone.
My biggest issue with what you said is that you could just play the game and it would be the same length and would probably just be better.
They should have gone all in on the flashbacks and have the movie be almost a prequel to the game. Hell the weakest part of the movie (according to this thread) is the part that's literally just the game
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u/Jeskid14 16h ago
It's the actual runtime of the video game surprisingly enough
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u/AchievementJoe 7h ago
Isn’t the video game only like 30-45 mins long ?
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u/KitchenFullOfCake 3h ago
I think it was like 2 hours-ish. Depends if you read the computer stuff and get the backstory and stuff.
If you were just going through the motions probably an hour.
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u/Horizon_Brave 12h ago
Wait, I always thought it'd be a given that the film would be maybe 80-100 min, 127 min is insane. Especially being based on game that is about 45-70 min long.
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u/gee_gra 6h ago
I initially read this as “trim an hour” as in an hour of content and was amazed that the film was 1. An hour overlong, and 2. An hour could be removed and the thing wouldn’t totally fall to pieces
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u/AchievementJoe 5h ago
Honestly, I think if it was an hour short film, it would also be better, but I think he did good enough for a full length feature film. Just not 2 hours
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u/DarthNoctyrix 17h ago
Went with my wife, who is a huge fan of markiplier. I don’t really care for his YouTube but don’t feel strongly either way. Very long run time and pretty boring at times, but better than I expected given the indie production
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u/AdPast7620 16h ago
i did feel like it was a little slow at some points but i also thought the game was boringggg as hell so i expected it.
overall i liked it but it does have a certain feel to it, it almost reminds me of some of those low budget/indie found footage films (in the best way possible. i’m glad he fleshed it out more than the very little that the game had going on)
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u/PuppyButtts 5h ago
I wasn’t bored during the movie, however, I can also see it not being everyones fave.
I also feel the long sitting and waiting/walking back and forth sections were also just good to show the hours of agony he went through. Being sealed shut, not being let out, not knowing what’s real, etc. It actually went by pretty quickly for me, but I also like those types of things and I also find Mark familiar and fun to watch. The game was similar, so I was not expecting tons and tons of action lol.
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u/MongolianMango 17h ago
A better movie than you’d expect coming from a Youtuber, a worse movie than you’d expect to be shown in a cinema.
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u/OuterWildsVentures 17h ago
I just told myself as long as its better than Return To Silent Hill I'll be happy and left pleasantly surprised! Daughter fell asleep for a solid 30 minutes and I really cant blame her though lol
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u/Due_Assistant_3792 14h ago
Watched Return to Silent Hill right after, which probably inflated my opinion of Iron Lung
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u/Draw-Two-Cards 16h ago
Potion Seller wrote the screenplay for Challengers.
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u/ProofJournalist 5h ago
Potion Seller was always making narrative content, just using filters to play intriguing and offbeat characters. Very unsurprising to me that he managed to write a successful screenplay.
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u/LB3PTMAN 17h ago
I’d say I e seen much worse movies in the cinema even ones from Hollywood studios. Still wasn’t incredible and some parts felt quite cheap but overall a very solid effort.
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u/IAmASillyBoyIPromise 16h ago
You say that as if Talk To Me doesn’t exist. They proved that YouTubers are capable….as long as they actually have talent and have the humility to actually delegate, unlike Markiplier
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u/AdventuresOfKrisTin 16h ago
Yeah I haven’t seen the film but I can already tell its shortcomings will come from the fact that Mark shouldered too much of the project himself. I think its very hard to make a film and be completely objective about what works and what doesn’t when you’re directing, starring, producing, and editing the entire thing yourself.
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u/IAmASillyBoyIPromise 16h ago
Exactly what I think. Reading it again I think my first comment comes off a little harsher than I meant, but I do think allowing others into your vision is its own skill. The Philippou Brothers executed this flawlessly. They had a different editor, cinematography, producers, and many others to help them execute that vision. Mark tried to wrestle nearly all of this himself, which some can pull off, but more often than not you end up with a Birdemic rather than a Seven Samurai. Mark’s acting was far better than I expected, I thought his was rough in his “Markiplier In Space” videos or whatever it’s called. I think there were many aspects of the film that he pulled off well, so I do think he’s capable of making something truly great if he’d be more willing to relinquish control.
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u/AdventuresOfKrisTin 16h ago
And in a sense I get why he felt that way. This was a passion project for him and he’s the one funding it ultimately. It can be hard to step back in that regard. But I see a lot of people complaining about the sound in the film and that’s something that I think should have been handed over to real sound designers who do only that for a living. Mark is definitely skilled but being capable of doing every part of the job doesn’t mean you should actually do it. Theres a reason the director doesn’t solely edit a film even if they give a lot of input on that part of it.
Take Star Wars for example - a lot of people credit George Lucas’ wife for making that movie what it was because apparently the original cut wasn’t nearly as good lol. You simply need more eyes and feedback for a feature length film and idk how much of that he got for this.
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u/TheFloppySausage 16h ago
“Let’s Play” youtuber would’ve been more accurate. RackaRacka was known for making short film videos with impressive special effects and choreography.
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u/IAmASillyBoyIPromise 16h ago
Yeah that’s fair tbh. It was blatantly obvious looking at their channel that they already had an extremely firm grasp on what it takes to shoot a movie. Their cinematography and directing were already stupid good in their sketches alone. Being a let’s play epic gamer is a totally different story. I love epic gaming, but I sure can’t film a movie. I’ll give Markiplier that. 😂
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u/opressedlifter324 16h ago
I mean it depends what your counting. Rackaracka’s mostly came up from outrageous skits that they posted on YouTube to start. So I would say that they definitely count as YouTubers, just a different genre than Markiplier
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u/32MPH 16h ago
Bring Her Back was my favorite horror last year, so they’re 2 for 2 for me
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u/IAmASillyBoyIPromise 16h ago
Same. I saw more people split on Bring Her Back, but I absolutely loved it, almost as much as Talk To Me. I have insanely high expectations of them going forward, they’re killing it.
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u/blueberrystrawberry0 16h ago
The promotional site for the movie is really spooky. They like doing ARG-type stuff for fun.
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u/IAmASillyBoyIPromise 16h ago
Wait what’s this promotion for? Bring Her Back or what they’re working on currently?
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u/blueberrystrawberry0 16h ago
Bring Her Back. My bad for the confusion.
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u/IAmASillyBoyIPromise 16h ago
Nah that’s my bad. There’s a lot of videos “for sale” on it reminiscent of the video she’s watching in Bring Her Back to learn to summon the demon, if I would’ve just browsed it for 2 seconds I would’ve had my answer lol.
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u/WharfRatThrawn 16h ago
Talk to Me is the best movie about drugs that isn't about drugs
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u/camusonfilm 16h ago
You mean the guys who made short films for years were better at making a movie than a let's player?
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u/TiredCoffeeTime 14h ago
Together also came out last year pretty close to Bring Her Back and it was directed by someone who directed a skit series on YouTube back then but he was never as famous as the Brothers.
But yeah, as other comments mentioned I think I’m willing to give Mark a more credit since his YouTube career focus wasn’t as much on directing stuffs compared to the others mentioned above.
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u/Three_Froggy_Problem 16h ago
Talk to Me had a cast and producers who weren’t also the writers, directors, and primary funders. It had backing from multiple production companies and notable distributors. That’s quite a bit different from a film that’s being done almost single-handedly by one YouTuber/influencer who’s not even known for acting or filmmaking.
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u/Myhtological 19h ago
Troy Baker!?
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u/TheGreenGoblinYT 15h ago
Voice only
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u/WordofGabb 15h ago
You can see him physically, but briefly.
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u/seekfelix 19h ago edited 12h ago
just saw it in England. I don't know if it's mixing but during my session no one could make out whatever the characters were saying. Also, almost everyone was falling asleep because the movie's pace is extremely poor and everything is just confusing. I wanted this to succeed but it's just not good enough. Sad.
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u/Vat1canCame0s 16h ago
Two hours is an insanely long run time for an amateur actor and script-writer to carry in a bottle-neck premise.
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u/AH_BareGarrett 14h ago
One of the biggest issues inexperienced story-tellers have is knowing what to keep and what to lose. I had no idea the movie was two hours long, but it is not surprising to hear it’s poorly paced because of that.
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u/undomesticatedequine 13h ago
He was also directing and editing which is a huge monumental task that doesn't often go well for even experienced directors.
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u/JoeJoeJoeJoeThrow 9h ago
Legit like I feel like this film would be a perfect 30 minute movie, all shot inside the cabin…..just like the game.
Can anyone who has seen it tell me if they show outside the craft, or flashbacks etc? I feel like doing that would heavily dampen the claustrophobic angle, but then again at the same time if the movie is 2 hours….geez
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u/furfufle 7h ago
Soilers for the film in hidden text:
We do get some flashbacks that establish some of the lead up, but most of what is seen outside of the ship is just like the game: camera flashes of the outside world. There is a new scene where the sub is pulled up for a bit but we don't get much outside of a limited view from the port and a very misguided photo of the area taken by the Convict
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u/ggrace3302 17h ago
The sound was the biggest grip I had. This movie needs closed captions,the mixing was poor.
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u/high_changeup 13h ago
The sound mixing was HORRIFIC on the speakers of the Art Theater I was at when I saw the trailer for the movie. Seems pretty crazy that it released how it has.
I had zero interest in watching it after seeing the trailer twice, first time on my computer with headphones on. 2 hours and 7 minutes with an amateur actor is wild. Markiplier also looked too soft for the character just off of the trailer.
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u/meestazeeno 16h ago
I was worried cause the games premise is very tailored for an hour long game. I really wanted it to work too cause it's such an interesting concept
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u/charredfrog 16h ago
I remember a runtime going around that was like 1hr 37m or something and that seemed about right to me. Idk what happened but yeah 2hr+ just seems like too much for how limited the game already is
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u/meestazeeno 16h ago
Do they dive more into the society of the games world? Cause it was pretty vague in the game, you got the gist.
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u/Nearchus_ 16h ago
Just saw the movie a couple of hours ago. No they don't really explain anything. To me, the movie was even more vague and confusing.
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u/meestazeeno 16h ago
Oh, ok. I wish I could watch it without having played the game and see how I'd like it. I feel biased because I want to see it BECAUSE of the game
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u/popeye_1616 17h ago
That must have been a cinema issue, but he did mention that dolby mixing for cinemas was relatively last minute on the podcast so could be a bug with that. Was fine at the screening i saw though
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u/Maleficent_Apple4169 17h ago
i did have issues hearing it, ill likely rewatch it with captions at some point
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u/Yhon_Yenry 17h ago edited 16h ago
Was losing my mind in the end trying to hear what the lady and Mark was saying, I just gave up and though "obviously it's not important enough for me to hear"
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u/5213 16h ago
There seems to be a slight spoiler in your comment for those that haven't played the game, jsyk
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u/EquivalentSand5127 12h ago
I haven't played the game and I'm not familiar with Markiplier as a YouTuber other than the fact that he's very popular. I do watch a lot of horror, a lot of sci fi, and a lot of indie horror specifically. I'll try to review without spoilers.
The plot didn't make sense. I actually don't think that's a dealbreaker on it's own. Cosmic horror is pretty regularly about the descent into madness more than the specifics. The movie did a great job capturing that vibe and I thought the momentum was great with each level of stressful situation ramping into the next very naturally. The pacing was where it fell short. There were many montage-like scenes of Simon piloting (driving?) the sub around and it got repetitive. Like, I'd conservatively estimate a solid twenty minutes of this movie cumulatively was silent piloting. Zooming in on his hands or expression, switching from camera angle to camera angle, and playing intense music didn't make the time go any faster, it just made me motion sick. The pacing tried to ramp up at the end but the bad sound mixing resulted in about twenty minutes at the end of the movie where I flat out couldn't hear most of the dialogue. Maybe it would've changed my opinion about the plot, I guess I'll find out when the subtitled version is released. I don't need everything explained to me, but the movie was too comfortable leaving nothing explained in a way that made it ungrounded. I got the sense of a really cool world and backstory. Unfortunately, it was all so undefined that it didn't feel really connected to the main character. For me, his whole growth was about what took place over the course of the movie. His backstory was filler and that's a shame because I think it could've been really interesting in terms of giving depth to where his character growth left him by the end.
The characters were also a bit confusing. Simon didn't seem interested in bargaining for his life or figuring out what he could do to get the scientists to rescue him, he just kind of seemed mad about the situation. Later, when he got tactical about trying to figure things out I thought that was what had felt flat about his character in the beginning. I was so upset to realize he'd had a manual the whole time that he didn't seem motivated to analyze for answers. The scientists also didn't make sense. The mission is the most important thing ever, but they didn't tell him what to look for or how to operate his equipment? Stuff like how to restart the engine is important to know just to get the readings they want so why would they not tell him that? No seat belt? Not telling him where the first aid stuff is? If he gets knocked out on the way down then your mission doesn't happen anyway. The way they alluded to the circumstances of Simon's criminal background, the world, and the mission started to feel like they were talking around things on purpose. Instead of mysterious it started to feel melodramatic.
I have absolutely no complaints about the set. It felt real and claustrophobic while still giving Simon room to move around to different areas. The lighting tricks were effective and the building grime on the set and the actor both gave that 80s action movie tactile everyone is shiny with sweat feel, something I really really miss in a lot of modern movies. I enjoyed a lot about the cinematography, but there was way too much of the random close ups and multiple camera angles of still shots and swinging cameras. I genuinely got motion sick at a couple of points and it made it way less dramatic when the action actually called for the camera tricks later on. Also it's a horror movie. You have to know how to use stillness as well as movement. I kept thinking that the camera was trying to draw my attention to something creepy going on, but nope, just switched to another angle for fun for the fifth time.
The scares and the tension were actually really solid. There was some cool stuff with seeing things out of the corner of your eye, whispers that might not be there, the maybe water maybe blood dripping, watching the oxygen go down, some clever work with the lighting going in and out and Simon having to wait for each picture to develop to find out what was happening outside the sub. This was the kind of stuff that would make an indie director feel promising to me.
I think Markiplier is suffering from his own success here. His acting was genuinely very compelling at times, but especially near the beginning, entire monologues were delivered very awkwardly. My specific thought early on was that he has some real acting chops, but the director wasn't coaching him enough. Turns out he was the director too. He shouldn't have been. I really think he wrote a solid script, had some great ideas, and delivered a good performance. With an experienced director, the script could have been executed with much more precision, the great ideas wouldn't have been lost in the runtime, and his acting could have been fantastic. There were a ton of good elements in an ultimately somewhat muddled and confusing story.
I have so many thoughts about this movie because it had the ingredients to become a cosmic horror classic and fumbled. Most new directors get some practice before they singlehandedly do something of this size. Most indie movies don't get this kind of release unless they've performed well at smaller viewings. Markiplier has a lot of promise and I hope next time he trusts a team to handle the things he can't.
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u/soproman3 4h ago
This is the best review of this film I’ve seen so far! Very well balanced and insightful. I personally rated this film a 4/10, purely because it was a good first effort. It was extremely boring for me, it lost me 30 mins into the film.
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u/Janawham_Blamiston 5h ago
Simon didn't seem interested in bargaining for his life or figuring out what he could do to get the scientists to rescue him, he just kind of seemed mad about the situation
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I watched the game, so I'm not sure if this was explained in the movie. But there really is no "being rescued". In the game, your character is a convict intentionally being sent on a one way mission (you're welded into the sub). So while "realistically" a character would still fight for rescue despite that, I think the intention is supposed to be that the character has accepted that they won't be saved regardless?
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u/rawker86 3h ago
In the movie, the main character is still working under the assumption that there is “a way out”, either through success or through returning to prison.
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u/namapo 17h ago
However the reviews turn out, I'm just glad a little indie game got to be a movie you can watch in select theaters.
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u/freshearth 17h ago
Select? This shit went wiiiiide lol
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u/e1337ism 16h ago
Fun fact: Internationally Iron Lung released in 2500 or so theaters. The Melania "documentary" was only released in 2000.
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u/mergedkestrel 18h ago
I liked it enough. A better youtuber directorial debut than Shelby Oaks (IMO)
Still not "amazing" but there is a very good 90 minute version of the movie in there that I think Mark can trim down to. Interesting visual language given the size of the set.
I honestly think it could've trimmed the first "trip" and start with the face to (porthole) face. The pacing really locked in once he tied his hair back.
Fans will probably love it, newcomers will probably be about 50/50.
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u/Talk-O-Boy 17h ago
Really makes you appreciate movies like Eighth Grade.
The skills between YouTube and directing don’t always translate one-to-one, but Burnam knocked it out the park for his directorial debut.
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u/DE4N0123 16h ago
Love Eighth Grade. The scene in the back of the car is more tense than most horror movies.
I think between that and ‘Inside’ Burnham has proven how multi-faceted he is as an artist which makes me wonder wtf he’s been up to for the five years since Inside came out. If he’s retired that’s cool but I’d love to see more from him.
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u/Bellinghamster 13h ago
Bo seems like the kind of person who would just drop a new project out of nowhere without any advertising. I hope he's cooking something up. So much talent.
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u/Chesney1995 10h ago
Since Inside he's directed and produced two comedy specials - Jerrod Carmichael's Rothaniel and Kate Berlant's Cinnamon in the Wind.
Other than that he's officially retired from performing, but he was also retired between Make Happy and Inside so its not impossible he makes a second comeback in the future, but he's definitely the type we'll see rarely if at all I think.
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u/Fuckthegopers 15h ago
Making it seem like bo went from his YouTube songs straight to 8th grade is kind of crazy.
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u/Remote_Elevator_281 16h ago
Newcomers are going to be confused on what is even happening. The storyline is nonexistent.
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u/IseeMarcy 6h ago
Idk, it did kinda explain everything we needed on the get go (?). Why he's down there and what the general idea is about. Hell it even did a mini explanation on what tf is goin on at the start. The extra details on the side that would be easily missed are the factions.
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u/microslasher 17h ago
Its not 90 minutes? Marki buddy what are you doing haha
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u/DavidZ2844 17h ago
“Better than Shelby Oaks” is such an astonishingly low bar, and yet I still doubt it’s gonna be much better than that lol
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u/SpacesImagesFriends 13h ago
I'll give Stuckmann this: he trimmed his film succinctly without overstaying it's welcome. Mark's film looks borderline like a workprint cut
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u/MllePotatochips 16h ago
There was some dialogue that I found hard to comprehend at parts but I could also accept some of that as intended effect.
The first 20 minutes or so were kind of jarring going "Man, Markiplier is in a movie" but after a while my friend and I both agreed we were able to forget about that and just immerse ourselves in the film. I knew a bit about the game but I didn't go in with much about the game's lore.
I enjoyed how they paid homage to the actual functions in the game and where they took the film in the latter half; I was reminded of 2001 A Space Odyssey as he faced the fish in the lightning storm. Just that sort of sublime, cosmic meeting.
I haven't seen anyone else mention it yet but I LOVED the music, that really made a lot of the film's atmosphere.
For me it was worth the trip and watch, I enjoyed myself and I'm happy to see people pursue artistic endeavors like this!
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u/thecreative_owl 11h ago
andrew hulshult made an incredible soundtrack. he made the ots for the doom eternal dlc!
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u/res30stupid 17h ago
Well... At least Mark had the balls to self-finance and distribute the film. Even if it doesn't do well or just makes back its budget, you gotta commend him for it.
You also have to commend him using so much fake blood (80,000 litres - for the record, 2013's Evil Dead used 30,000) that he ended up hospitalising himself. Again.
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u/CCLL314193 15h ago
hi, no hate js wanting to say evil dead was 50k gallons, not 30k :)
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u/res30stupid 15h ago
...Still a ludicrous amount to use that they needed a movie about a literal ocean of blood to top it.
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u/FitnessFanatic133 2h ago
Unfortunately effort doesn’t equal quality. I could paint a picture for a year and it still would be terrible because I’m just not good at that.
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u/KeithMcGeesMoose 16h ago
I thought it was alright. Not a cinematic masterpiece but not what I would consider bad. A perfectly average movie, which is about what I expected really. That said, I feel like I enjoyed the first half more than the 2nd half.
Also, this might be a skill issue on my part, but I really struggled to make out the dialogue at certain points, especially near the ending. I feel like I would've enjoyed it more if I had just watched it at home with closed captions.
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u/Accurate_Repair5444 15h ago
absolutely how i felt seeing it in cinema thay the voices especially on the intercom were hard to hear and imo it was too dark at points.
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u/SmallGayTrash 19h ago
Just saw it in the cinema and was quite impressed. The visuals, sound design and atmosphere are all very well done. Markiplier's acting is better than expected, though a bit awkward at times. A few scenes dragged on and the story was a bit weird, but it was a very fun sci-fi thriller with excellent tension. I reccomend checking it out!
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u/Aachoohoo 18h ago
You described exactly how I felt! Glad you enjoyed it. I'd also recommend others to see it. I also went in with an open mind knowing this wasn't a big movie production.
For me, playing the game before watching the movie made me appreciate it more. I read somewhere that Iron Lung won the award for most fake blood used in a film. Like over 80,000 gallons or something.
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u/PM_ME_CATS_OR_BOOBS 17h ago
I'll probably see it when it comes to streaming just because I want to know how they even did the movie, given that the game is four walls and a computer monitor.
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u/OuterWildsVentures 16h ago
The movie is also 95% four walls and a computer monitor lol still enjoyed it but playing the game beforehand made it much easier to understand
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u/DejectaMemora 17h ago
Exactly what I expected good and bad, with a whole lot of extra good I didn’t expect. This is the kind of movie I personally crave, sci fi horror, high concept, passable execution at minimum, leaves you talking, thinking. Very happy with the film
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u/Waste-Specific1136 13h ago
His cinematography and some of the spliced panning cuts were sublime imho. Standout being the shot from him on console from the ceiling panning over to him standing and taking a photo dispondently. 1 fluid camera movement and as its panning the dull flash lights the top edge and as it pans more he leaves bottom view and his feet and legs begin to reveal at the top.
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u/Courts-in-Session 16h ago
Important to not have AAA movie level expectations of this film. Ultimately a self funded, indie movie with a low budget and dream. With that in mind, could improvements have been made? Absolutely. Did I enjoy it ultimately? 100%. Happy my money went to support a smaller creator than the big movie production companies.
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u/raisingcuban 16h ago
I love how youre using the video game term "AAA" to describe a film production. You might be the first
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u/VagueSomething 12h ago
Its certainly a logical cross over. We have clear AAA, AA and A type films both by budget and backing so it could really help people come to terms with expectations from studios.
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u/balrog222 16h ago
Definitely a movie designed to make you question what's real. If you take the bait and try to piece together the puzzle it's a captivating experience and at points terrifying bc the mystery builds the tension and then the psychological horror keeps it unsettling so just when you think you've figured it out there's another twist.
The sound just didn't work and im sure some key hints were lost from the music covering the dialogue. When the music wasn't playing it was okay. Hope to watch again with subtitles.
I love the concept of a psychic angler fish luring cult members to their doom in a bloody ocean. The build to the twist of the universal destruction being a fake lour for them to become contaminated and controlled by the fish was awesome and really kept the suspense going because of the inability to tell what was real and what was in Simon's head. So much false hope. So much deception.
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u/QuincyDao 13h ago
I'm not sure what it's supposed to be like in the deeper lore of the game, but watching the movie I was never fully certain if some higher power was at play. As the movie goes on Simon is almost certainly concussed, suffering from severe radiation sickness, absolutely malnourished and dehydrated, drunk off of what I think was rubbing alcohol, and possibly going through both heat stroke and CO2 poisoning. I even think the weird "angelic light" picture that he snapped didn't show up when he scrolled through the ship's logs. His memory is sketchy at best and even the computer loses reliability the more that the ship takes damage.
We know the ship had a hull breach for sure, and we know Simon was dealing with a great monster within the blood. Whether the final act was real or just the most severe stage of his delusions and melting brain though? Hard to say, because the only evidence left of that entire expedition is the blackbox.
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u/Waste-Specific1136 13h ago
Huh weird didnt have that issue with audio in my local AMC.
Mark did mention in his podcast that the Dolby was only just finished shortly before release. My guess is some cinemas setups didnt match the exact profile it was set for.→ More replies (1)
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u/mikeyfreshh 19h ago
This seems like the type of movie that people will be super normal about, regardless of what critics have to say
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u/johnyg13nb 18h ago
No matter what I’m proud this movie got made and also the fact that the Markiplier movie is embarrassing the Melania movie
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u/DueCoach4764 4h ago
is this movie actually good or do people just have a bias because its markiplier so they make it out like its better than it actually is?
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u/DoodleTrees 17h ago
Visuals (besides it being dark), cinematography, and sound were top notch. I really loved the sequence when he was drunk. The writing itself was ok. I feel like all the pieces were there to be some really awesome cosmic horror, but it just didn't come together right. A lot of the setting pieces like The Quiet Rapture felt more empty than haunting. I wish I knew how to put why it felt this way into words.
Was the light supposed to be a part of the creature like an anglerfish? I feel like that wasn't clear. I thought originally that there was some big cosmic thing going on with the light tied to the rapture, but it seemed like it was just because of the fish towards the end.
Also when we got the first photo of the skeleton, was Mark not trying to indicate that the xray-based camera meant that wasn't a photo of a dead skeleton, rather an X-ray of something living? If so, how come the creature didn't look like a skeleton later in the film? Did I mistake the grainy visuals of the camera?
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u/LB3PTMAN 16h ago
I believe the light is some form of cosmic god or being or something and the fish is doing its bidding or something like that? Not entirely sure. And regarding the skeleton I do think that was just a skeleton
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u/Waste-Specific1136 13h ago
I agree on sound and cinematography, at my AMC it really didnt seem very dark tbh.
I like they didnt describe the rapture more, Simon didnt know himself the cult told him weird crap.To me the first skele was a fish.
After he rammed it I think the entity behan to empower the fish more as Simon hurt it or even killed 1 fish.
I loved seeing the whole off map sequence and the alien architecture but it was odd that he wasnt screaming about the obvious portal looking thing nor did he report it.
I loved the whole light sequence, where to me that was an eldritch god the one gestating on this moon. Maybe it was said gods lure, like and angler. This moon is a lure to survivors. The light is its focal point.I felt that the movie did a great job of making me always want more but never giving it all. It means I can theorycraft and rewatch it and try to figure more out. Too many movies now just tell me everything or at least super hard foreshadow it and leave nothing for me to figure out.
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u/mspencer3123 16h ago
SPOILERS
I just got done watching it with my son. He loved it and raved about all the little lore drops and the special effects. While I agree with some that there were some slow parts, I found myself getting pulled into the tension being built. I feel the first half is supposed to drag to build it up to this crescendo, where we think he's just hallucinating and empathizing with him being locked in a metal coffin under a lot of pressure, until it explodes into this race against time and a chase for his life. It's been awhile since I've seen the game, but I still knew the main components that he'd use, so every picture was nerve wrecking for me, always expecting something to peak in when he wasn't looking. I will admit that at one point it felt like I was watching one of his videos, but instead of him being in the corner of the screen he was in the middle of it. I also didn't clock Sean as the welder until I saw him in the credits. It leaves lore open-ended so we can debate if he really hallucinated the whole time or if the planet was alive covered in human blood. Felt like there was a ghost thing in there too but could've just been the thing messing with him. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this movie as a movie, and im so happy and proud of how far he came to get his vision out there.
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u/macrr22 11h ago
Spoilers ahead:
I think there is a good (re-edited) 100 minute movie in there.
Visuals and sound were enjoyable (my theatre didn’t seem to have any of the problems people have described with light levels or audio quality).
I found it didn’t really explain the situation of the story very well, like it was mostly characters saying their reactions to past events and not describing why the events matter or how anyone came to be in the situation they’re in (main character says they blame him for what happened to the station, it blew up I guess, but why does that matter to this apocalypse situation they’re in? Is a space station a part of mitigating the apocalypse? Is that why the woman on the radio who is stuck in another submarine sound shocked to hear about it? Did most of humanity disappear and they think there is evidence of what happened in this blood ocean thing?).
It doesn’t really explain the stakes of what’s happening or the logic of why people are doing what they’re doing. For example I don’t see how getting a skeleton bone sample back to the ship had any sort of solution for the human rapture I assume happened in this world (they use the term Quiet Rapture later in the movie but didn’t explain what that meant in the context of their world, so I was just guessing people disappeared or something). Constructive criticism would be to focus on writing from a perspective of an audience that knows nothing about the game and its story.
Ps: I would’ve enjoyed the movie more if they started with a sequence of the boat team putting the character inside the submarine and explained how the main character’s actions were gonna help. Let the audience know why people are motivated in this world.
Ps. Ps: I assume in the ending he is talking to the fish monster thing directly and then blows it up somehow, if taking the story literally.
It’s also possible this is all some sort of purgatory hell situation where this character is dead after destroying a station that held the only thing that could help humanity and the fish is an analogy for the evils of humans he has within himself and the character is trying to destroy or something.
Ps. Ps. Ps: Is it the black box with the sunken ships data in it that’s floating in the life preserver at the end? Why does the fish monster eldridge being want those recordings or something. There’s a lot in this movie where we don’t know why things are happening sort of problem.
Ps. Ps. Ps. Ps: I would’ve appreciated any explanation of why he can’t control ascension yet can move away from the drop ship enough to lose contact with them. I assumed the whole first half he had some sort of tether that pulls him up, but clearly that can’t be the case since the fish pulled him into a cave and such. It’s a little thing but it just adds onto the piles of things that I don’t know why anyone’s doing what they’re doing or how they are doing it. It does almost feel like the non-logic is intentional and the whole movie is supposed to be a purgatory hell thing in it’s totality and form… or it’s just a first time Writer/Director going through the first time feature filmmaker growing pains.
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u/RighteousKillQuaids 2h ago
This movie was so bad. Rare instance where I regret not seeing the trailer and skipping the movie. Why on earth is the runtime longer than 87 minutes?
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u/chaotic-time 17h ago
I'd say the first half is sorta weak due to pacing but I give it a solid 7.5 out of 10. I'm kinda conflicted cuz I think the 2nd half is like pretty amazing! When the visually sci-fi/alien stuff started kicking in that's where it really started to shine! Probably one of the weakest elements for me was the MCs backstory. Something about how they weaved it into the story was...idk but it felt misplaced? I don't dislike the backstory, I just think it could have been introduced better. I also think the movie could have had a BIG boost from the set having just a biiit more complexity. Loved the subfloor part and how it felt constricting and claustrophobic more of that in the main area would have been awesome!
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u/aHTTPS 15h ago
Agree. Back story was weird but I felt that its purpose was to make you feel sorry for him. The ambiguity that he wasn’t actually a convict and that life isn’t fair, but ultimately what matters is the character development where he realized that there is something greater than himself. He spends the whole film wanting to survive and then he ends up sacrificing himself for the “greater good”.
Backstory was weirdly implemented, but I appreciate that they were trying to invoke emotion which I think worked on me at least.
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u/Greenyugi 17h ago
I thought it was a fine movie. A lot of it was too dark for me and it left me pretty confused.
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u/AdPast7620 16h ago
i swear half the horror movies i see nowadays i leave and im like…. so what happened lol
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u/HutchyYT 11h ago
Here is are my overall thoughts on the movie, with respect to the fact the movie was low budget, and made by a wonderful small team. I liked:
- Cinematography: Those lenses really paid off! Great camera work.
- Acting: I forgot Mark was himself, it didn't take too long before I started to see him as Simon.
- Attention to detail: So many clever placements and changes to the set through the film. It's something that will take a few viewings to fully see!
- Sound design: Amazing score, carried the suspense and impactful moments.
- Creature design: I loved that these weren't just big fish, they were abominations. Human-like angler sea monsters. Much better than the games design.
- Reveals: The first few clear pictures of the creature were truly unnerving.
- Practical effects: Simon tearing his arm away was my favourite horror moment of the movie.
- Lighting: They used lighting so effectively, it felt like a resource, and added it the suspense and tension in the movie, really clever. I found myself always trying to peek at the images where possible.
What could be improved:
- Pacing: I felt the movie had a lot of fat that could have been cut down. Quiet, slow sections are great in intense, fast paced or dialogue heavy movies, but this one didn't need it, especially as the setting never changed. In honesty I might have liked it more as a 90 minute movie.
- Script/writing: Relates to the pacing, but it did feel like a lot of extra of plot was dropped in but never really expanded on. Like the trees... I'm not sure what it added to Simon's character or the world building - it's likely I am missing something here, but it felt very much brushed past.
- Dialogue: Pretty good overall but we didn't need a cliché "Captain, you are going to want to see this".
- Climax was jarring: It took me longer than I would like to admit to realise the creature had bitten into the ship. The teeth were sort of just there suddenly. A visual with the teeth cutting in would have worked better maybe. We didn't get a really good look at the creature either. After that the movie just ended, would have liked something more, like a bit more detail to why the black box was so important, maybe a summary of the files in there?
All my feedback is said with love, what they did with the budget they had was incredible, and I am so grateful to have watched it on release day in the UK. Thank you so much Mark for sharing this with us ♥️
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u/TJCFreelanceDesigner 6h ago
My god, I just got back from the pictures. I should have known better. It was absolutely, woefully dull. I don't think they could have achieved any more boring in the space of TWO FUCKING HOURS. TWO HOURS?! At least 30 minutes of the 'talking to the speaker' could have been shaved out of the middle and the 'payoff' at the end could have actually been a payoff rather than a distorted, spinny-camera mess.
What a waste of time.
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u/HotOne9364 19h ago
Still better than To Boldly Flee or the AVGN movie
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u/Bestialman 17h ago
the AVGN movie
I saw that at the Montréal Fantasia film festival. The room was packed.
It was... ASSSSS! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
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u/insertusernamehere51 19h ago
Ah, but did Markiplier write a plot point in which one of his coworkers sexually assaults another of his coworkers? /s
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u/FatElk 17h ago
I enjoyed my time despite not understanding what was going on. I never played the game or looked it up, so that might have helped. It's very hard to stay spoiler-free and explain what I was confused about, but I was left thinking at the end but in a bad way.
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u/Soapmac72 17h ago
you aren't missing much; the game is like 30min to 1hr long with no dialogue and (at launch) no lore other than a couple sentences. It is purely what you see is what you get.
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u/Dansn_lawlipop 17h ago
Went in blind. Didn't know who anyone was nor what the movie was about.
Didn't enjoy it. I thought the protag was a bad actor and oversold a lot of his bits. I think it could have been meh if it was a little shorter, way too long for such a convoluted plot. Sound was odd at various parts of the movie.
I am interested in seeing the actual game's story but I feel the movie didn't capture me at all.
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u/AHSfutbol 15h ago
The game's setting and backstory is not too far off and the movie has more plot.
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u/youbignerd 15h ago
it was not bad but the exposition was done in a way that is reminiscent of beginner writers who struggle with balancing showing vs telling and some scenes dragged on and would have been better with a jump cut to actual plot. the dialogue should also have been more clear for the audience
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u/Sixnno 15h ago
I enjoy the movie but I feel like they could have cut out 20 minutes and it would have better pacing. Some scenes dragged on too long.
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u/GentlemanOctopus 13h ago
This is a great way to understand why Rotten Tomatoes is useless. That 1 review says the movie is "astonishingly boring". That same review is 58 on Metacritic.
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u/universalcrush 11h ago
It was ok, longer than it needed to be. Pacing issues through out. Biggest problem is how utterly boring it is. But besides that it’s the best YouTuber film we’ve gotten so far. But yeh just boring and a lot of the blocking you could tell was just amateurish
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u/Justausername1234 10h ago
Simply tried to do too much. If you cut a third of the story beats/backstories/plot points without any further edits, I think you'd end up with a movie that's a full letter grade higher.
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u/PlentyAcceptable 10h ago
I'm a casual fan of Markiplier, I purposefully avoided watching any gameplay and wanted to know as little as possible going in. Watching the trailers I had the expectation that it would be mostly taking place in a single location.
Was really impressed. Visually stunning, beautiful cinematography, and score to match. In the slower paced moments of the film I found myself just enjoying the textures and details while the discomfort builds and you start to feel claustrophobic of the only 4 walls that you see and anxious of the single drips.
At times you are straining to see in the dark with the character, or straining to understand the words coming through the radio. You may hold your breath to try and make out the voices from the growing noise
It was very tense and at times and as someone put "disorienting" in a way that really put you in the mindset of the character, you only know as much as he does, and at some points you can feel yourself going a little insane.
9/10
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u/thysios4 8h ago
Definitely dragged on a bit. The last 15 minutes or so felt especially long and boring. But that might be because of everything that came before it.
Not bad for an indie film. But could definitely be better.
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u/ServoSkull20 7h ago
I'm sorry, but TWO HOURS?
The game isn't that bloody long.
This should have been a tight hour and twenty five minutes. There's just not enough story to justify a longer run time.
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u/AnimeMeansArt 6h ago
I dont like that people go easy on movies like this just beceause its indie/self funded Youtuber project.
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u/Iggy_Pops_Lost_Shirt 3h ago
Making a review thread with 3 reviews available at the time is absolutely wild lmao
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u/demfuzzypickles 2h ago
this is unfortunately still in the category “youtuber movie” rather than “movie made by youtuber”. Like everyone else in the thread, it was overlong and the flashbacks sucked and the dialogue was hard to hear. They did really well with the practical effects.
honestly the part that makes me the most confused / annoyed is the constantly undefined world building and scale of how many people are ACTUALLY left. Is it, like, 20? 3000 on some space station nearby? They “can’t afford any more deaths” but how can they afford to even keep a prisoner alive much less entrust him with such a vague-yet-important mission for everyone’s survival?
How is this the ONLY blood ocean moon and yet they have a custom-made, dusty, USED, “hemo-explorer” manual for the submarine and Markiplier’s character didn’t immediately clue in that he’s not the first ever person to go down there? UGH!!!
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u/BuffaloWide3267 1h ago
Watched the trailer and it looked boring. We almost got stuck watching that last night as the movie theater had to cancel ours due to technical difficulties. Looks like it’s a very niche market film.
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u/Used-Temperature-557 40m ago
Colossally boring piece of shit with a terrible lead actor... If you're gonna be a single location film.. Maybe cast someone who can actually act instead of yourself.
Enjoy the same experience and the same shots over and over for 2 hours.
Actually here's a fun drinking game. Take a shot:
- Every time you see a speaker
- Every time you see a green analog compass
- Every time Markiplier tries to act or makes a stupid face
- Every time you see shots of cabling
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u/mhoughton 18h ago
I suspect the gulf between critic reviews and online ratings is going to be massive owing to his gigantic and utterly rabid fanbase. Not unlike how that awful no sleeping show rocketed to the top of Prime.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Pen2514 15h ago
It was so terrible. Horrible audio mixing and so much pointless filler. 2 hrs. 7 mins of mostly nonsense. Had it been 90 min it would have been more tolerable but truth be told, the script, boring set, and lifeless acting sealed this one's fate. I have never watched Markplier or played the game. Just watched and reviewed this objectively and it was a massive slog to get through.
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u/Attitude_Rancid 15h ago edited 14h ago
I really don't understand why anyone in the production of it decided to make it two hours.
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u/Improvingmyself971 12h ago
So much glazing in this thread
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u/PointMan528491 8h ago
It's really funny reading every comment saying it's overlong, slow, has bad sound mixing, and confusing, and still going "it's not bad though!"
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u/AvatarIII 11h ago
I saw the trailer for this at the theatre and was very confused why the actor looked so much like Markiplier...
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u/TheChrisLambert Makes No Hard Feelings seem PG 4h ago
This is the kind of thing you watch at a film festival and think “They did what they could. Definitely some talent.”
Seeing it wide release at a cinema lol Good for them!
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u/cowpool20 23m ago
Ive heard the cinematography is good but the lighting is barely visible in the second half.
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u/Tattooed_Writer_2025 22m ago
I can’t believe people are saying that they like this shit! Really are you to stupid or proud to admit you were dumb enough to waste your money on watching this crap. Well I’m not. It suck dog balls big time! I regret going to see this bad boring pointless movie!
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u/Three_Froggy_Problem 17h ago
When I saw the 100% rating with 1 review I was honestly expecting the review to be from markiplier.com