Creepiest Game References In Markiplier’s Iron Lung Movie

Iron Lung, a critically acclaimed indie horror game from 2022, creates a truly unsettling and claustrophobic experience. It expertly uses challenging navigation and unreliable equipment to build tension and deliver scares. The game’s story is set in a grim, dystopian future where a prisoner is sent in a small submarine – the ‘Iron Lung’ – to explore a vast ocean of blood, revealing the desperate final days of humanity and the extreme measures taken for survival.

Popular YouTuber Markiplier was clearly affected by the story of the stranded diver on SM-13 and the frightening alien ocean. He’s turned David Szymanski’s successful indie game, Iron Lung, into his first full-length film. I recently watched Markiplier’s directorial debut, Iron Lung, and I’m sharing the moments that really gave me the creeps, referencing the original game.

Spoiler warning for both the game and movie!

The Soundscape

Hull Breached

The game Iron Lung creates a truly unsettling atmosphere largely through its sound design. The groans and impacts of the submarine being crushed by pressure, along with the distorted static of the camera and occasional alarms, build a constant sense of dread and highlight the player’s vulnerability.

The movie’s sound design is particularly strong. It successfully captures the feeling of being inside a first-person horror game, making the audience feel the convict’s loneliness and the constant threat he faces. While it can’t fully replicate the experience of playing the game originally, the sound is remarkably well-adapted for a cinematic experience.

The Convict

He finally has a name!

The person stuck in SM-13 is never identified by name. While common in scary simulation games, this choice is meant to strip the player of their humanity, labeling them only as a prisoner. Those who sent this prisoner to the ocean floor don’t see them as a person, but as a tool to be used and discarded.

Throughout most of the film, the main character remains nameless and mysterious. This lack of identity is used to create a strong emotional impact, especially as he desperately pleads with his captors for freedom. The reveal of his name, Simon, becomes particularly powerful when it’s twisted and used against him by the terrifying forces at play.

Hot-wiring the terminal

Cross the wires

The world of Iron Lung always hinted at a larger story, but details were scarce, leaving players curious to learn more. The 2.0 update, released in 2023, significantly expanded the game’s story and lore, though it still allows for some mystery. A key addition in this update was the terminal, which players can use to research information by entering specific keywords.

A clever detail is that Simon doesn’t have immediate access to the terminal. He first needs to find a note on a personal item that instructs him to “cross the wires,” which reactivates it. Even then, his access is limited until Ava provides the password. This mirrors the player’s own experience with the terminal, gradually revealing the darker story of what happened before the SM-13 incident.

The Vest Torch

Reference to the cheat code

The technology inside the submarine in the movie is poorly designed, with a bad map and frequent, random fires. However, the main character, Simon, has a few useful tools that players didn’t have in the original Iron Lung game. The terminal, added in the 2.0 update, not only expanded the game’s story, but also allowed players to use cheat codes, and there’s a clever reference to one of those codes within the movie.

Typing ‘chvest’ in the game turned on a special light, like a flashlight attached to a life vest, that stayed fixed to the player’s vision. Simon found a flotation vest with a light that turns on in water, helping him explore the area under the main part of the Iron Lung.

SM-08

Those who came before

I was completely fooled at first! They told me I was going down in this submersible as a scout, the very first one to explore this… blood ocean. But things quickly started to feel wrong. Then I found a note, left by someone who’d been through this before, and it was terrifying. It spelled everything out – this wasn’t a mission at all. It was a death sentence. They weren’t sending me to explore, they were sending me to… well, to be executed.

It turns out not everyone on the planet was a condemned prisoner promised freedom. Both the game and the movie reveal the existence of SM-08, a ship that carried scientists and advanced equipment, sent down with the intention of their return and the collection of data. The discovery of the ship in the movie is particularly unsettling, especially when Simon realizes he’s been deceived yet again.

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Eden

Maybe, sort of a death cult?

Update 2.0 greatly expanded the game’s story, revealing a harsh and violent world shaped by the remnants of humanity. After a mysterious event called the Quiet Rapture, people grouped together around space stations. Eden, one of the largest stations, held the last remaining trees. They are in conflict with the Consolidation of Iron, the group behind the terrifying Iron Lung machine. The game suggests the player character was originally a prisoner of war from Eden.

I was really struck by how the movie showed what life was like after everything fell apart. We get a good look at the chaos and how broken society is through Simon and his experiences with the people who captured him – this group called the Consolidation of Iron. It’s interesting because Simon’s from Eden, and they seem…almost like they’ve given up, like they’re just waiting for the end. They’re really focused on death. And he always wears this little charm, a pendant with actual plants inside, which I guess is a reminder of where he used to live, his home station.

The Consolidation of Iron

It’s bigger than us

Following a catastrophic event called the Quiet Rapture, communities rebuilt around the few resources left. From this rebuilding emerged the Consolidation of Iron, a group that formed by uniting against other space stations nearby. This information comes from the game’s backstory.

The film humanizes the people of the Consolidation of Iron, highlighting their ingenuity, ruthlessness, and denial about humanity’s decline. This clashes strongly with the values of Eden, creating deep-seated conflict that has grown into intense dislike and hostility.

The Attack on Filament Station

What happened to Filament?

A central question in David Szymanski’s Iron Lung is the fate of the convict and what actions led to their grim punishment – a slow death, abandoned by the last of humanity. The film suggests the convict participated in an attack on the Filament station, an event hinted at in the game’s 2.0 update.

It’s hard to understand exactly what Simon did during the attack. He feels deeply guilty, suggesting he knows more than he’s letting on. Because he’s also confused and experiencing hallucinations, it’s difficult to separate reality from the effects of a disturbing mental state.

Synthesizing Food From Blood

Problem solved!

Okay, so this is a really cool nod to something Markiplier said when he first played Iron Lung. He read the intro, which explained the ocean was made of blood, and jokingly suggested, ‘If it’s blood, just drink the blood!’ He even made his editor research what nutrients were in blood, which was hilarious. Then, at the super confusing end of the game, the idea of drinking the blood actually comes up, but it turns out it’s not just regular blood. It’s…bad. Like, it burns your skin, gives you blisters, and basically melts you to the ship’s pipes. That’s how you get those awful final scenes – seriously creepy stuff!

Facing a slow, painful demise is worse for the main character than being quickly killed by the creature hunting them. Markiplier emphasizes the graphic nature of the blood-filled ocean and combines it with the unsettling, otherworldly horror of the Quiet Rapture.

2026-02-08 00:09