Laying in bed with the phone I wasn’t supposed to have after 9 p.m. and making my own secret blanket fort amidst the tons of stuffed animals I had, clicking the all-too-bright screen to find someone playing Five Nights at Freddy’s, and always being a kid who liked seeing reactions, I pressed on the video by “Markiplier.” 9 p.m. quickly turned to 10 p.m., then 1 a.m., and my hushed giggles vibrated around the blanket; a noise that only I could hear in the quiet of my room.

Then maybe 10 years later, after I had stopped keeping up with his content, I began hearing something about “Iron Lung,” and initially I was confused. Wasn’t that a medical device? But soon enough I learned it was a game being given a movie adaptation, and who was making it? Markiplier; someone famous for kid’s wonderful childhood nostalgia.

Released Jan. 30 of this year, this movie was completely self funded by Markiplier with the estimated costs being $3 million and was announced in April of 2023, based on an indie horror game by David Szymanski.

The movie is set in a submarine, and a convict (Simon) is given the choice to go to jail or explore a recently discovered moon filled with blood to save the human race from starvation and grab a sample from a skeleton on the ocean floor. Choosing to get the sample, under the blood, he begins to experience panic from isolation, claustrophobia and a general panic at just how strange this “mission” is, which is almost certain death because he is the first person to explore down there.

When I went to see the movie, I could tell just how big of a fan base he has that was excited to see how far he’s come and how many people gave their support to this man who they might have been watching since they were kids. The actual movie set an eerie tone for what this movie was about, mixing an ominous cacophony of metal creeks, dull air conditioning and very light music.

Aside from the amazing tone set within the first few minutes of the two hour long movie, it feels as if the shots could have used some more lighting. I was having a hard time seeing what was happening, but if they were going for that in the way that it’s Simon’s perspective and he doesn’t have much to work off of, then they did great.

It left you worried about what would pop out, you can’t see a lot in the dark shots, but when he takes a picture at the bottom he’s met with a bright light from a large screen. Markiplier’s acting was great, but at the beginning you could tell he was trying to get comfortable in the role.

All movies could use improvement, nothing is excluded, but the effort put in certain movies determines how well perceived it will be. Overall, I would watch again. Could it do with some improvement? Absolutely, but for the first movie written and funded by a youtuber without the help of Hollywood, and breaking a record of most blood used in a film, It was amazing.