Iron Lung (2026)

Show Opener

Kris 0:04

This is basically swimming in Kool-Aid.

Movie Introduction

Kris 0:11

In 2026, one of the year's most surprising horror stories happened partly off-screen. A YouTuber bypassed the usual studio pipeline and turned a self-financed video game adaptation into a wide theatrical release. The movie actually adapts an indie horror game that trades haunted houses and slashers for cosmic emptiness, failing machinery, and the dread of being sealed inside something you can't escape. Its release also became part of a large industry conversation about creator-driven movies, fan-powered theatrical demand, and what happens when an online audience shows up in multiplexes without the usual studio machine behind it. The story takes place after an event known as the Quiet Rapture, when the stars and habitable planets have disappeared, leaving survivors to search for answers in the ruins of space. And on a barren moon, a convict receives one dangerous assignment. Pilot a submarine through an ocean of blood, document what he finds, and hope the mission offers some kind of way forward. This week we're talking about an iron lung.

Greetings & Salutations

Kris 1:19

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

Binx 1:31

Total joke, a waste of time. Or a slash. Totally killer, pun intended.

Kris 1:35

My name is Chris. I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast, and this week I'm joined by the paranormal paramour, Binx. Fucking aliens. Now you're tuning into Iron Long, but if you will support the show, you're also gonna get the Hero B-Side at the end of this episode where we explore video games, horror video games, their film adaptations, and even some of uh Binx's extracurricular game streaming.

Binx 1:58

Now, this movie was nominated by Machine Gun Ninja, Matt, who said, Honestly, I didn't really know much about Markiplier or the video game this movie is based in going in. My partner is a huge fan and was really excited, so I went with them to see it. I didn't really know what to expect going in, except a metric fuck ton of blood. And what I got was a really excellent bottle movie with some absolutely masterful tension, a genuinely claustrophobic atmosphere, a compelling narrative, and of course, a fuck ton of blood. Was it the best movie I've ever seen? Absolutely not. But it was pretty stellar, and I honestly can't wait to see

Spoiler-free Discussion

Binx 2:35

what he does next.

Kris 2:36

Well, I can't wait to see how you actually feel about this movie, Banks. What were you expecting going into this?

Binx 2:40

Funny enough, I also had zero knowledge of the game. I definitely know who Markiplier is, though. But I was expecting not much because the reality is that YouTubers in horror have been doing really well. Yes. So positives. But let's be honest, video game adaptations have historically always been a hit or miss, especially for me. So I wasn't really sure what to go into it, but I was willing to take the mystery and the unknown.

Kris 3:06

You know, Binks, you had one up on me. I not only did not know who Markiplier was, I had only seen his name written in context of this film. So I had to actually look up his YouTube video so I could figure out how to pronounce Markiplier.

Binx 3:21

Interesting.

Kris 3:22

No FNAF connection there, no nothing. I know that you're familiar with him from Five Nights at Freddy's, or you knew about Five Nights at Freddy's because of him. That's funny.

Binx 3:30

Yeah. If it wasn't for Markiplier, I wouldn't know what a single thing of Five Nights at Freddy's is either. So that did help Five Nights at Freddy's in that case. So thanks, Markiplier.

Kris 3:39

I realize now that all of my horror video game content creators were like spooky loops, Otsdarva, people who played Dead by Daylight. No one else.

Binx 3:49

Fair enough. Fair enough.

Kris 3:51

Now, going into this one though, knowing that it was an adaptation of a video game, knowing that this was going to be a feat, a technical feat and self-financed, I was actually really excited about the premise, but I didn't have any kind of emotional attachment to this, right? So I I don't know about the game, I don't know about Markiplier. I'm sure he's a hell of a guy. So I didn't go into this with any kind of pre-existing attachment or sentiment towards the subject matter. I'm thinking, all right, let's see if this is a fun movie. That's all I need it to be. And I was actually really impressed that although it's clear that this is one person in one location, very little going on visually until you get to certain parts, it manages to really cook you in the pressure of the movie. Obviously, when you have like a one-location movie and a movie that actually weighs very heavily on one person, and in this case, that person is Markiplayer, is the guy who played this on YouTube and self-financed and really made this whole thing come together and stars in it too. That's just an insane feat to have. I was actually impressed just how a cinematic felt, but also B effective it felt in its storytelling.

Binx 5:08

Yeah, I'm with you on that because it is pretty impressive when you take on the venture of directing a film, self-financing. Now, you know, you're also adapting to an extent, right? You're then starring in it. You also have the context of having played the game. I mean, there couldn't be more investment from this guy than what we got, right? And I definitely felt that. I felt like it was the most basic, in a way, form of what felt like a little bit like Suicide Squad with HBO's The Leftovers because of the whole rapture thing, right? Like there were certain films that came to me as I was watching it and understanding, oh, this is the world of Iron Lung. This is what this movie's about. Oh, wow. Then it became we're only going to be following this character, which I am also kind of weary about some of these movies because I've been a fan of a few of them in the past where we're just following a central character. But my thing, and I don't know how you feel about this, it's sometimes where we may extend the runtime a little bit too long for a movie that's only following one person in one location. I mean, you kind of mentioned it, right? Uh uh, what do you think about that?

Kris 6:19

Okay, I have feelings about this movie, and we're gonna get into, I think, a lot of discussion about it. And one of the things that this movie is, for at least from my impression, it's divisive in the sense that people either love it and think it's just absolutely phenomenal. And if you look in this movie on Letterboxd, and people are saying it's two hours of Markiplier in a sub. So I think it's your mileage may vary. I think your enjoyment of this movie is gonna vary based on what you latch on to. If you don't want to go deep, if you have trouble, I think, biting into the subtext of the movie, then for sure this movie outstays its welcome. I would say I'm somewhere in between. I can definitely feel like this. It could have been shorter, but there's a lot that I appreciate about it. It reminds me of, okay, one location movies, right? Do you remember that Colin Farrell movie where it all takes place with him in a phone booth? Eat.

Binx 7:16

That's my movie right there.

Kris 7:18

Great time, that movie. However, even then, there was still more going on in that movie than like location-wise, than this was. That movie had a lot more action and thriller, and this one makes you latch onto a lot of things psychologically and emotionally, and it also does a lot with its like progressive storytelling. Because when you're dumped into this, you don't know a lot about what's going on. It doesn't overload you with exposition, it gives you pieces of the world as Simon, Marco Plier's character, is discovering them. And every single thing that you learn makes it feel way more intense.

Binx 7:58

Yeah. And I I gotta agree with you there because to me, what doesn't quite work here is the pacing at times when we're not really getting a lot of character development or even world building, and we're just in this submarine, then you quickly feel it. Then on the other hand, what I think works really well is Simon, this character. I find him very compelling. His attitude, his charisma, his personality, the lines that he just shoots out. He felt so real. He felt like a fucking person that I would know out in the streets of my town, you know? And that felt very engaging to me. It made me feel like, okay, I want to keep seeing what happens to this guy. But the moments where it's just solitude, maybe nothing's really going on per se, and there's just a lot of mystery, I guess. It kind of lost me then. I don't know if I was fully invested in what we were trying to get to as far as a plot, but I was invested in the character, so it got me to the end of the movie at the least.

Kris 9:04

Yeah, this is a movie where you're gonna come for the premise, and if you're gonna stay seated, you're gonna stay seated for him as Simon. I am aligned with you in that. But I think for me, what I found to be just as compelling as his performance and his portrayal as Simon is how this story manages to start so narrow and then open up so much with its world. And I'm not saying that from the place of someone who has mastered and understood every ounce of lore. What I find impressive is you can tell when a movie is making shit up as it goes. In this, even though it's built off of an indie game, and the protagonist that you play in that game is such a clean and empty slate. Every ounce of Simon's character feels very lived in, and there's a real story behind him. Every ounce of the coalitions and the powers in this movie feel very lived in. There is a lot beneath the surface, and it's so funny because as we're talking before we started recording, there's a comment exchange, right? It's not that deep. And there's a lot of shit in this movie, for sure, not that deep. For a movie that takes place navigating a literal ocean of blood, and you would expect a lot of depth, it's somehow also not that deep. However, if you squint your eyes just right, if you look at all the subtext, and if you are someone who deeply values the lore of the video game and digging more beyond that surface, there actually is an entire world where I looked up some lore videos, I'm like, how the hell do y'all know the full timeline here? You're getting this, I'm imagining, from exploring all the franchises uh wiki page, but there's just so much and also so little in this movie. It's like a really nice balance.

Binx 10:53

I'm sure that if I hadn't been so caught up on maybe the pacing and just kind of shell-shocked by it, I would have let myself kind of marinate in this lore and and that squinting just right depth. Because I can see what you're talking about. I can see elements of it where I'm thinking now, I'm like, okay, maybe if I had really just sat with the statements or sat with the pain that's revealed, etc., like I maybe would have felt a little bit more of that emotional wave. But I don't know. I to me, this is a movie that, again, like most video game adaptations, if you're a fan of the game, if you're a fan of Markiplier, absolutely watch this because, from my little understanding, post having watched, this seems like a really great expansion to the game that we do have, right? So absolutely do that. But if you're not that familiar, and more importantly, if you're not one for a little bit of a slow burn at times, or just certainly following a singular character for a good while in one space, I can see how this is gonna be one of those movies where you're may just grab the phone at times. There's gonna be some temptation. I hate to say it, and you really shouldn't, but I can feel it. I'm not gonna lie.

Kris 12:16

I mean, I get it. This is not a movie that I think makes a ton of sense for someone who doesn't have a predisposition for other genres that I'll get to in a moment. But if you don't do well with single character movies, if you don't do well with single location movies, spare yourself and this movie from your bad expectations, right? This is something that you should know what you're getting into when you get into it. And it's a bummer because I do think there's a lot of good here for you to unpack. But if you already know off rip that that's just not your jam, don't hold it against this movie because it's not trying to pretend to be anything other than that. Now, what I will say is in addition to someone, obviously you mentioned Binx, if you like video game adaptations, if you like this game, if you like Markiplier, sure, check, check, check, check, check, go see it. But if you're someone who is susceptible to claustrophobic horror in a way that is effective for you and is not going to give you a panic tech attack, go see this. If you like that single location stuff, go see this. If you like sci-fi horror, go see this. If you like survival, if you like slow burns, if you want to feel like you're in the driver's seat discovering the exposition and the and the narrative as you go, go see this movie. In fact, if you also like a little Lovecraftian uh aspect of it and become big monsters, if you like the film Underwater, go see it. I mean, there's a lot of people that this will work for, but one thing that I'm absolutely blown away by is the concept of how this movie operates with its gore. So this is one where if you've seen any kind of like interviews going into it, Markiplier talked about having a desire to beat the record for most fake blood used in a movie. He ended up actually even hospitalized for blood, fake blood like in his eyes. So Binks, when you have that kind of setup and those kind of promises, it begs the question

The Gore Score

Kris 14:17

how would you describe the gore score?

Binx 14:18

Boy, well, I mean, like you said, there is a sea of blood, quite literally, a sea of it. There is no shortage of that. But the truth is that aside from that, we don't really see any deaths except for two, with the exception of maybe a flashback as well, showing brief moments of others, but nothing that you actually are witnessing. So from the gore perspective of blood, brilliant. However, I gotta be honest, I think this would be in Sean's you know, methods to his madness. I I gotta say, it might be a low gore score.

Kris 15:00

Which is so counterintuitive when you find out just how much blood was used in this movie. But we'll get there to the spoiler zone.

The Animal Report

Kris 15:06

What about the animal report?

Binx 15:08

No, well, there was a rapture, huh? So technically, this is quite fucked because all of living beings, and that does include animals, were destroyed by said rapture. So yeah, I would say it's not good, but luckily we don't see it. So there's that. There's a little bit of safety and

Scoring

Binx 15:28

comfort in that.

Kris 15:28

All right. Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings. Iron Lung from 2026 as nominated by Matt and selected by the patrons. Was it a hack or a slash?

Binx 15:38

So, as we know, I went into Iron Lung basically knowing nothing, like truly zero context. And having known Markiplier, I was pretty curious because he is a very charismatic YouTuber. And he did have working for him this fact that a lot of YouTubers have been entering into horror and killing it. So I already thought, okay, I'm gonna gen generally enjoy this and expect a really good production because they just have a way of knowing how to bring in the audience in short form, right? So if they can do that, I know that they can achieve it in a film. And honestly, I do still stand by that. I think that I was entertained and captured, but a lot of that has to do with the central character, who, again, I think is very relatable to an extent. And there's a lot of nuance to him specifically in the situation that he finds himself in. And there's also a lot of curiosity with this world as well. I think that this idea of a rapture is very fascinating. I love sci-fi stuff, and I fairly do well with this single containment film, right? The structure. But in all honesty, there was something about it that kept pulling me away at times that where I felt a little bit of boredom and that tension that we're talking about and that claustrophobic sentiment kind of fizzled away, then came back and fizzled away. I never really stayed in it through the whole runtime. There were even some moments where I had a little bit of a laugh where I thought, oh, that seems kind of silly or a little ridiculous. And I don't know, it wasn't the feelings that helped me get to the end of this movie and think, dang, I really, really liked this one. I can respect it. I certainly can. And I think that there's an audience for this film that absolutely works. And I almost feel a little bit of FOMO. Like maybe I wish I had played the game, perhaps, or watched a full gameplay beforehand to really go into this fully prepared. But there was just enough of it kind of missing for me where unfortunately I'm gonna have to give this a hack.

Kris 17:40

Oh, okay. That's not the direction I was expecting that to go.

Binx 17:43

I know, I know. But who knows? By the end of the year, it might feel different, might end up playing the game. It's it's all a guessing game here.

Kris 17:51

I don't know if the game should be enough to sweat, but we'll find out. We'll find out. I think for me, obviously, again, going into this like you, no attachment to the game. I am not a Markiplier fan. Not to say that I dislike him, I just don't know who this guy is, right? And I am impressed with what I've seen thus far. The biggest reason why this movie works is because it's a story rooted in survival above all else. And at the beginning of the movie, we start with this really easy to grasp premise complete the mission, stay alive, earn your freedom. It feels very straightforward. What I appreciate is that even with those layers, and like as the movie progresses, there's a lot more world building around it, you get a lot more lore. I mean, a lot is a generous statement, but the emotional question becomes can this person survive what is presumably an impossible assignment? And there's something really beautiful about how this movie dances between inevitability and hope and flickers between the two throughout its entire runtime. And I can appreciate that because while we start with like this dude in a sub, what I what I dig most is that it becomes about trust more than that survival that I mentioned. It's what's being withheld, who is using who, uh, what do the people above Simon actually know? What knowledge is worth preserving? What is the truth cost? Is survival even the most important goal anymore for this guy? And all those questions and all those developments in both Simon, the world around him, the other people in this film, and then the way that you as an audience member go on this journey with him, it progresses the movie in a way that gives it so much shape. And I am actually surprised by how well it's formed. And I also think it's obviously it succeeds because we talked about Markiplier as a character. Uh he humanizes Simon so much and gives him enough of that fear, that frustration, fucking resentment, exhaustion, stubborn humanity that anchors this movie emotionally. It feels very human. This is a person who's gonna be a proxy for us and and our decisions in this movie and in this game if we played it. Obviously, I can see why you're hacking this means. I'm a little surprised, but I can see. However, what I find is that for me, the pressure that this movie gives, even that one person in one place for two hours, it works with enough pressure that feels like it's the point. And even though it's limiting for some, for me it stands on its own two feet. It doesn't require me to know the game, because I still got it, I still had fun. It didn't require me to be a Markiplier fan because he was so fucking great, and without having any kind of hours invested watching his videos, I'm like, damn, this guy has presence. I think that's what the kids call Riz. And it also works at this like super self-contained sci-fi story with a strongly fucking patient escalation, like infuriatingly patient escalation, and a final stretch that makes the whole thing feel even bigger than his tiny physical space. So with that, it's a slash. And Iron Lung has managed to squeak by with one hack and one slash. I am so sorry, Matt. We are a house divided. Now we do have so much more to unpack in the spoiler zone. So buckle up and we'll see you in a bit.

A Word From Our Sponsor

Binx 21:29

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Welcome to the Spoiler Zone

Kris 22:48

Nominated by our patronat, voted on by the rest of the people, and it has earned one hack and one slash. And we do have so much to get into here and even debate.

The Slay by Slay

Kris 22:58

But thanks, let's start off with that sleigh by sleigh. Oh 70 something to maybe just two, maybe thousands of them?

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Kinda thousands? Kinda 70, but kinda two. Kind of millions, maybe. Millions? Billions? Trillions.

Binx 23:12

Trillions, whatever that amount is, but it's a fuck ton folks, because we had a rapture on our hands, that's for sure. But I guess even rapture aside, all right, before this whole shit show began, really, we had 62 unnamed people that died at Filament Station, R.I.P. They were destroyed by Simon, but not really. Really, they were various uh members of Eden, off-screen mentioned, of course, but they got got.

Kris 23:42

Womp womp. It's giving domestic terrorist.

Binx 23:45

It's giving domestic terror. Well, it's not giving, it's just fact. It is domestic terrorism. But I mean, now I'm thinking of Purge Anarchy. That one's to come.

Kris 23:54

Hey, we got we got plenty of that coming.

Binx 23:57

We got plenty of that. Now, here's the thing. We also had two COI research leads. They were a part of the SM8 that did die. So there's that. But we also technically have a male convict, of course, that was in the iron lung, died on own causes, but we do know that they were sent to the blood ocean by Ava.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

So there's a predecessor.

Binx 24:22

We do have a predecessor. So we're looking at a total of 65 here.

Kris 24:27

And you know what? It seemed like he died on his own terms. He made his choices. Which, I mean, better that way.

Binx 24:33

Better that way than, well, some of the situations we got during the film.

Kris 24:37

Becoming a blood tree inside a bloody o yeah.

Binx 24:40

Yeah, you know, we don't love that. We don't love that. Now, we're gonna start off with two things that are a little bit debatable as of right now. We do have Jack and David. They did get poisoned by radiation. I mean, I think we both agree that they got God because that was some serious radiation.

Kris 25:00

They may have endured, may have endured the duration of this runtime. And I say may strong may because they can't be living long and we just don't know otherwise. However, they don't have long left.

Binx 25:13

Listen, the tumors, okay? It's just it's bound to happen. We don't love it, but it's bound to happen. It was an accident, all right? It was an accident.

Kris 25:22

Okay, but I do think to his credit, how can you not give some well no? Again, let me just stop myself right there. What the fuck am I thinking? He just refused to read the manual.

Binx 25:33

The manual, the instructions. You and I both know that we love a good manual. So the opportunity was there. He didn't want to do it, but I mean he's also a little pissed. So there's layers to this.

Kris 25:46

My understanding, this is also a reference to Markiplier not wanting to play the tutorials or read any instructions for the games that he plays. He just jumps into it and tries to figure it out. Better than me, sir, because I've been playing the tutorials and I still can't figure that shit out.

Binx 26:01

Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm always looking at the map, I'm always looking at the controls. I even write little notes. It's it's a thing. It's a thing. Now, here's the other thing. We have Ava, who uh was assimilated by the Blood Ocean SM14, she got got. That was something. That was certainly

Spoiler Zone

Binx 26:18

something.

Kris 26:18

It was something. And you know, her death is also more of a bummer because obviously, you when we start the movie and we're seeing her through his eyes, this is someone who is oppressing him, keeping him in the system, very direct, very, I'm up here, you're down there, you're gonna do your fucking job, and then maybe you'll earn your penance. But by the time she makes this commitment to him, and even has this very human moment where she acknowledges, I didn't even get your name. When we think about how many people are left, and she's even acknowledging there aren't enough of us, there are too few of us left to be killing one another, etc. She goes down on a mission to rescue him, and the urgency in her voice and the way that she shifts and how she engages him, she becomes less of this fucking authority commander person who's keeping him down, and more of another person trapped in an impossible circumstance.

Binx 27:16

Yeah, which that's the piece of humanity that I find really interesting, especially in this apocalyptic world that's way more fucked than the usual apocalyptic world that we find, personally, because at this point we're talking, we really are talking trillions and trillions of people gone, you know, and their new environments are just not safe for long-term, you know, living. But yeah, I I thought that that was a really like interesting character arc for her. Now, Simon, unfortunately, also does get killed, sacrifices himself, depressuring the SM13 iron long, of course, and that one sucks. That one kind of sucks.

Kris 27:59

I mean, your boy turned into a tree, emerged from a seed sapling. There was a lot happening there, and I had to watch this movie when we were originally had it in the lineup, and I was like, whoa, okay, this just seems very sudden. It didn't quite click to me what was happening, and then re-watching it again, I'm like, this is this is a whole angle here. And I almost wish we got to linger in what happens a little bit more because it is so sudden, and it makes sense for it to cut in a video game. We're not gonna get the epilogue. My Baldur's Gate, we might get the epilogue. But in this circumstance, the movie ends as your playthrough ends, and I can understand that. But from the blood flood all the way to that implosion, hmm, Jeff's kiss.

Binx 28:47

Uh, I mean, we'll get to him in a minute, but I think that that was quite an ending in just like circumstance, a lot of chaos all at once. That I just wish it would was a little bit throughout the movie. I don't know. Now, speaking of, I guess, let's talk about the monster. I mean, bloody old monster, big boy, you know, he gets blown up. He gets blown up.

Kris 29:11

You know, every time I see a big monster like that, I think about the big galaxy far, far away angler fish from episode one Phantom Menace. Without every single time.

Binx 29:23

Whoa. Whoa, wait, I have to look. I'm sorry. Now you just threw me the way back.

Kris 29:29

Yeah, there's always a bigger fish. Is a quote that belonged in this movie, actually. While you're looking that up, I want to pour one out for the death of something else. And that was the death of the system, the death of the mission, the death of any fucking machine, like the the prior subs and the technology, clearly it's eroding, the death of the chain of command, the death of human understanding, and just a little hospitality between each other. It's all fucked.

Binx 29:58

It's absolutely fucked. But that's the part actually that reminded me of the leftovers in a way, because it's like when we think of a rapture, typically it's people disappearing out of thin air. No reason, no understanding, it just happens. That in and of itself could cause such insane chaos in society. We typically we see, you know, these apocalyptic worlds, it's like, you know, zombies or a virus outbreak or et cetera, et cetera, but like a rapture. Like we blink, gone. It's giving infinity war. You know what I mean? Like it just finitoe type thing. And I mean, of course, the chaos at that point, it's like, what is systems? I'm I mean, you have to kind of govern yourself out of nowhere when you're in space already. You were like thinking, oh, I'm I'm gonna go back home at any point and I'm you know, in time now. Nope. You ain't.

Kris 30:58

Imagine the crew of the Artemis with Moonjoy coming down here after a rapture. All that great shit they were doing up there, they just come down to this nonsense.

Binx 31:09

I can't even. That's crazy. I can't I I would be like, get me back up there.

Kris 31:15

Honestly, some of the shit that was happening in the news around the time that they were up there, maybe it should have been a rapture. I don't know.

Binx 31:20

Fair enough. Fair enough, actually. Fair enough. Now, that being said, because you just brought up, you know, them and just like NASA in general, I was thinking like the ship itself, like the iron lung itself, is so fascinating. It's like rustic, it looks old as hell, but it can withstand the depths of an ocean. Like how did the way that they crafted this ship, right? It looks very similar to the gameplay, the little bit that I've seen. And it looks so frickin' old, like it couldn't possibly, but it does. And it has these components of technology built into it that make it feel postmodern, but then also so archaic at the same time. It's a very interesting design.

Kris 32:06

I was actually watching this and thinking about the Iron Throne station in Baldur's Gate, but going back to the blood of it all and how gross that shit is. When we were looking at the fake blood overall, I mentioned earlier that part of the production, part of Marco Plier's goal, was to surpass and break the record for the most fake blood used in a film. Now, one of the other benchmarks that we have for this is Evil Dead 2013's. Uh they used 50,000 gallons of fake blood. Thanks. Do you have an idea of how much fake blood was used in this film? Are you about to tell me like 70,000 or is it even more? There are sources that ballpark it around 80,000 US gallons or 300,000 liters. What? Mm-hmm.

Binx 32:57

I would hate to be a PA on that set.

Kris 33:00

Yeah, I this is basically swimming in Kool-Aid, quite frankly. Jesus. I mean, he literally made a blood ocean at that point.

Binx 33:08

Yeah, I mean, was his skin stained? I mean, you said he even went to the hospital.

Kris 33:14

God. When you look at, and again, it's in one of the lore videos that I was watching, and I'll link in our episode description. They show a picture of him that he posted publicly while he was in the hospital, and it's just his eyes, and they're just like blood red.

Binx 33:28

Oh my lord. Well, I mean, again, the commitment. The exposure. I don't, I don't know. I mean, it was worth it because I would most definitely prefer that than some sloppy CGI like the movie that we will not mention anymore because it's so terrible. You know the one.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

It's in Christmas. It's in Christmas.

Kris 33:51

Oh, the mean one, shit. Yeah. Oh my gosh, since the laws we talked about the mean one and dragged it. Exactly.

Binx 33:58

Exactly. I wanted to die. I wanted to literally die in the depths of our hack station. But, anyways, you know, I would have preferred this kind of blood than that kind of blood.

Kris 34:09

There is so much that went into this movie production-wise, and I think this was exceptionally well done.

Binx 34:14

Yeah, I'd agree. I think that even if it didn't always to me like look super realistic, it was in the sense that it could be like actual human blood, like the darkness of it. I didn't really care. I was just impressed that they made a blood ocean, you know, like that alone. And and I keep saying the ship itself is also just fascinating, with like I don't know at what point in time to place it in, you know. So I those combinations of things is incredible.

Kris 34:43

You know what else is really cool? Well, hmm. Did you watch this movie in theaters? No, I didn't get to watch it in theaters, no. I am so glad I didn't watch it in theaters. I am very glad because I realized that for as effective as the sound design is in this movie, I feel like I got so much more having the subtitles on in the comfort of my home. And I know there are ways to access that in a movie theater, but quite frankly, I just I don't think I would have thought to do it or like committed to doing it. But there's so much that gets revealed and things that you can barely hear that you know Simon can hear, he's trying to discern. And I love being able to get on those smaller details.

Binx 35:26

Yes, absolutely. I mean, I feel that way about a lot of films because there is so much little bits of exposition or Easter eggs in those moments that are layered all the way in the back. And it makes for a good rewatch, most certainly, you know, when you end up maybe catching it streaming or physical media, etc. But like this time around, I'm really glad that we did have those captions because there are just slight moments, even mumblings of his frustrations that I mean, they they hit and they're even funnier because you are like, did I hear him say that? Oh yeah, I definitely did, which is great.

Kris 36:01

I am curious though. One other thing that I loved seeing, and I was actually so tickled by and excited by when I saw and ex and understood what it all meant later on. What did you make of the camera system on the ship and the photos and the phones of everything?

Binx 36:19

Oh, I kind of really liked it. I mean, it reminded me of Blair Witch, and I don't really like that movie, but this was an aspect of it that like I was about because you couldn't quite make of it. I mean, it reminded me a bit of like some Japanese horror as well, and like the teeth. It was giving museum type shit too. I don't know. I I actually kind of liked that part a lot, and I quickly saw in the gameplay, just bits of it, that that is something that is clearly there. So I'm like, okay, that's a really nice, like direct adaptation that I of course they were going to implement because that's the whole point, but the way that the teeth look and the mystery of what the fuck am I looking at? Like that's kind of cool.

Kris 37:02

Okay. Did you the first time that you saw it, before you watched any of the video game stuff, when we see the first skeleton, did you think it was anything other than a normal camera that I was just trying to see in low light? Did you expect that it would be an X-ray? No, I didn't.

Binx 37:19

No, I actually didn't. Because I mean, even the movie poster, which I had seen, didn't quite look like it was an X-ray entirely. So that no, I w I really wasn't expecting that at all.

Kris 37:30

I was fucking floored. One, when we take the photo, and okay, you see like big bones, skeleton, etc. It reminded me a lot when I was playing Breath of the Wild and Breath of the Wild 2, where you find like these big skeletons out in the middle of some of these maps. Absolutely love that. But then when we get the scene where he blasts the crew with radiation, and he's just trying to get their attention, and it gets revealed that that is an X-ray. Holy shit! Because then it makes you reassess and think, damn, was that actually a skeleton? Was it actually something that wasn't moving?

Binx 38:06

Right, exactly. I mean, you definitely don't think at the beginning. I mean, maybe a little, in a sense, because there's a lot of like tension and movement, so you can't help but feel like, yeah, maybe there's something living out there that's pushing it, but then it's kind of written off as like you're in an ocean of blood, buddy, it's waves of something. Who could, you know, who knows what it could be, right? So then you kind of write it off. I didn't even think at the beginning that it was an X-ray at all, because you instantly think, okay, maybe black and white, but there's so many like aha moments with that. You're in a sea of blood. How could you be able to see if it was a regular camera? You would need something that could get through it, as explains. And it's like, oh Jesus, they're really like radiating the fuck out of this blood ocean.

Kris 38:51

Yeah, and you know what's also wild about this, and I was just like stewing on this as I watched this movie the second and third time. When we consider the fact that it's a blood ocean, I love the fact that it's called a Hemo Rover, by the way. It's just little, you know, floating around in the bloodstream. That makes me think of the magic school bus. Miss Frizzle would have lost her shit for iron lung.

Binx 39:17

She would have been fascinated, but I feel like she also would have been like, hell to the fuck nah. Now I'm thinking of a little school bus just like floating around in a bunch of blood. Maybe less like cute. Now, you know what I I've kind of laughed at a little bit. I couldn't help it. Maybe I shouldn't have was the reveal of the blood eel of the monster. The moment we see that eye, if you're a Lord of the Rings fan, I feel like is it just me, or did you not think some? Because I just instantly was like, Oh, my boy, that's not good. If you see a floating eye, that should tell you historically, you gots to go. Things are not looking up from here.

Kris 40:00

When the eye of the creature is as big as the porthole in your vessel that you are in, nah dog.

Binx 40:07

You're cooked, it's over. It's the wrap.

Kris 40:10

Banana for scale, eyeball for scale, porthole for scale.

Binx 40:13

All just not good. It's all not good for scale, no matter what. But I I just I had to admit that. I was like, okay, it can just be me that everyone's gonna think, okay, that this is a Lord of the Rings moment here. But I mean, that's across anything that would reveal a massive eye, of course. It's kind of a given reference.

Kris 40:31

Yeah. I mean, it's you think about that or you think about the Illuminati, so oh, also true. I am curious, I know, how you felt about the ending though.

Binx 40:39

I mean, it was tense, it was chaotic. I almost, again, I feel like I wish I had had a little bit of a lot of that tension and action throughout. I can see that there is a lot of suffocation, I guess, throughout the movie, but I didn't feel a lot of that a majority of the time. I mean, and I also just felt bad that, you know, Simon had to. I in a way, I felt bad about Simon's, you know, fine an ending, what had to be done. And I think it's a it's a good develop character arc development, but there's something about that ending that made me think of a previous scene. You actually mentioned the quote of it that I also want to hear your thoughts on. I just felt like that ending was like, man, you kind of like once again, you die alone in a way, right? Like you just like you die alone, there's so much isolation, you're in this thing alone. I don't know. I it's it's a bittersweet thing in a way, because like he ends up being the hero, and uh somewhat it's almost like a sense of absolution, right? To an extent. But I just kind of wish that there was a better outcome for him that wasn't death.

Kris 41:41

And I think that's just it speaks to his effectiveness portraying Simon and turning him into someone that we care about. When you start the movie, he's a convict. And maybe when you start this movie, it's a question of is this someone that I should care about? He could be in jail for literally anything. And then, of course, as we get to know him, we get to understand his morality, and he's pretty morally gray. And I I can appreciate and respect that. One of the other things that uh really uh scratches such a satisfying itch for me when we're considering just uh okay, wanting a different outcome for him is he is someone uh who uh is betrayed in a sense by his brothers with Eden. Eden seems to be a faction and a group built on like hope and belief. And they had the last tree that was available and accessible, etc. So he is brought up in that way of thinking. He has then been betrayed and kind of hung out to dry. He is the one who is imprisoned. There isn't a lot of great shit happening here, right? Like obviously things are dire, there aren't that many people left. Uh and yet, even though there isn't much to live for, he still wants to survive. I think that's a really interesting thing for him in particular. He still wants to persevere, he still wants more, even though there isn't much left.

Binx 43:09

Well, and then becoming this tree, I guess, like the symbolism, even with that alone. I think, yeah, it could be kind of funny, but the way that you framed that made me think like, you know, trees are this symbol of, in a way, like eternal life. They last for centuries and centuries. They provide us life in a way, like this oxygen and and shade, and so many aspects to things that you know, we maybe take for granted, or maybe we just forget that they represent. And even with that symbolism at the very beginning, almost like a sense of foreshadowing later on and what he be does become. It's like the cyclical aspect to his character that is pretty beautiful. But you just don't expect that coming from someone who also is just saying, fuck me all the time in the movie, you know, and just like frustrated as hell, as he should be. Let's be clear. And saying, rammed it. Rammed it. I'm dead. No, it was funny. It was funny. But you know, something else about Simon, and this is actually the quote that I was mentioning earlier. You mentioned the quote where it's acknowledged that they don't think that they ever got his name. You know, he's asking, what's my name? He's hallucinating, right? What's my name? What's my name? And it's admitted that they don't even think that they got it. And that also speaks to like this sense of isolation and almost like your worth is nothing. Like you are nothing in a planet or in a rather in a circumstance where there is very few people left, as Ava mentions, right? Even then you don't fucking matter because I don't even need to know your name. There could be 20 of us, and ultimately, like you are the one of the 20 that doesn't really provide much value, other than we're going to send you off into something that maybe you don't come back from. But I think it's so interesting how then the story comes back to that and then provides that value after all, even for the fact that he is a convict, when we can think of in present day our society right now, like we just kind of dismiss, like you mentioned, you know, these prisoners and these people that have done heinous things, and maybe even people, let's be honest, that didn't do these things, right? In Simon's case, betrayed. We just dismiss them anyways because they have this like letter A on them, and that's it. We don't even bother. But this is a good reminder that I didn't consider or didn't certainly didn't expect from a video game adaptation to be like, man, like these are people. Nonetheless, these are people, and let's not lose sight of that.

Kris 45:35

I mean, listen, in our society currently, it's super important to remember these are people. Don't lose sight of it because think about how many people are also wrongfully imprisoned, or the sentences that they're given egregiously outweigh the severity of their infraction. So, and I'm not saying that's uh as applicable to everyone, but so often are we quick to cut people off and then not consider like true rehabilitation. However, aside from that, in this scenario, in this movie, uh you're confronted with Simon and then how Ava is treating him, uh and you have to wonder okay, is this how she copes? Is her distance and her detachment a coping mechanism to just keep the mission moving, to keep moving forward, to be on this quest for discovery? Because the second she acknowledges, damn. Yeah, I don't think we ever got your name. You can feel that she's clocking how much they've dehumanized him. She is clocking how much they have dehumanized him, especially considering uh that there are so few people left. There's so few people left that we need to just give you a job to earn your freedom. We don't want to just kill you, but also fuck your name. Those two things don't go together.

Binx 47:00

Yeah, I agree. That's exactly why. I know you were shocked by my scoring, but that's exactly why I think that the best part of this movie really is Simon and the world. It it was just right there. Like again, I've got respect for it. I was entertained, but I just wasn't entertained completely. What I'm taking away from this is the potential almost of maybe something that could have been a little bit more, or really like taking ownership of that I needed to maybe come into this with a little bit more knowledge and be a little bit more prepared. There's gonna be movies, especially video game adaptations at this point, where I need to kind of look up things before I go into it. We've seen this with Five Nights at Freddy's. We've seen this now with Iron Lung, you know, like I'm a gamer, but damn, I don't play every single game. So there's gonna be some things that I just can't really pick up on or understand. And maybe in the moment it's not really like something that I want to play brain games for. But there's a lot of like interesting story here. So I would love to just like watch a super long YouTube video, you know, and do the research and kind of just like dive in because I am curious enough, but yeah, I I think that Simon is just like a really good central character. He is, he represents all these things that we've just talked about almost better than some of the other films that kind of try to do this, like the Suicide Squad, as I mentioned, or you know, like other films with the anti-hero type thing. I think that Simon is a lot more relatable than those kinds of people in those movies.

Kris 48:31

I would agree with that. I'm I'm sitting here and reflecting, because there isn't a ton that I have pain or issues with in this movie. But one thing that does give me pause and consideration is damn, you see all of this stuff, all of these lore videos, and I know a lot of this comes from the game and just familiarity with the premise and the intellectual property as a whole. But there is something about the point in this movie where Simon is passed out, he hasn't had comms for days, and he is going back and forth with the monster and the voice and just he's being influenced. We get so many flashbacks to what happened that I still don't feel super connected. Like if I could go back and re-watch this movie again and try to write down, I feel like I need to make a complete chronology and a timeline of exactly what happened and who was who, because there's something about that section, and again, obviously this is a hallucinatory, this is a moment in time where he's kind of hallucinating and he is going through some stuff. So it makes sense that it's not all quite there, but I just feel like I walked away not knowing or understanding as much as I think the movie wanted me to. And I I can't tell if that's a me thing or if that's the storytelling. It's probably a me thing, and maybe it's something where it's like, okay, it's not that essential, but it's there for the people who will get it and who will know. I want to just revisit this movie one more time so I can like really grasp onto it.

Binx 50:11

Yeah. No, I I can see what you're saying because uh on the other hand, for me, I don't have any intentions of re-watching this until I am a lot more like versed in this franchise or what what have you, right? In this lore and the game, etc. Re-watching this, even if it was a few months' time and not having done that, is gonna move do this movie a disservice. It's just gonna be the same thing again for me personally. I think I know what I need to do in order to like really be able to catch on to the things that you're talking about. For the things for for the fans, the the if you know, you know, right? But until then, I feel like I'm just gonna, it's almost worse, right? If I rewatch this, I'm afraid that I am going to be tempted to grab the phone and be like, uh, whatever, you know. Like I know the Simon, I know I really like him, but I've I've got that already. So it wouldn't do this movie any good to rewatch it until then.

Kris 51:04

Okay, so what I'm hearing is the homework. You're gonna follow all the links I'm gonna put in the episode description. You're gonna bone up on the Lord, you're gonna dive on into the blood flood, and then maybe in the spooky season, we can play this game together.

Binx 51:18

Oh, that sounds great. And if you're on a Discord listener, you better join on in with me. Click every link, let's unpack it together.

Kris 51:26

Yeah. Binks, please do that with the people. I'm sure they would love it. I'm down. It's how you can personally make up to Matt for hacking the movie that he wanted us to watch.

Binx 51:35

For Matt, absolutely, I will. For Matt, I will.

Kris 51:38

That is your penance. That's how you're gonna earn your freedom. I'm down. All right. Well, for now, there you have it,

Toodles

Kris 51:44

folks. Iron Lung from 2026, nominated by Matt, chosen by the people, has earned one hack and one slash. I almost said universal slash. We're gonna come get you to come around, Binks. Now we've certainly had a robust discussion here, but the conversation about this movie doesn't end here by any means.

Binx 52:01

If you want to find out how you can go further than this episode, consider supporting the show by visiting patreon.com slash hackerslash. This is where you can enjoy even more of the show, including bonus content with early access, extended episodes with our B sides, movie nominations, and live shows.

Kris 52:17

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember, you deserve your freedom. You can apologize to my tumors.