When I walked out of “Iron Lung,” I had this dull ache in my chest. Though I had thoroughly enjoyed the film, there had been something about it that had stuck with me.

The film takes place in a claustrophobic submarine submerged in an ocean of blood. It is claustrophobic and bleak. But somehow, I walked out of the film feeling something I had not felt in a long time – hope.

I realize that it is odd to say that a horror movie had filled me with hope, but it did, in more ways than one.

Starting with its success, “Iron Lung” shocked the film industry with how successful it was. Opening night, it made its entire $3 million budget back and more. Opening weekend, it grossed $18.1 million and was screened in over 4,000 theaters globally.

For context, thenumbers.com shows that industry giant Sam Raimi’s “Send Help” was screened in 3,475 theaters globally.

Not only that, but as of Feb. 6, “Iron Lung” is ranked third for the domestic charts.

This film is wildly successful and as a student producer that is something that is unbelievably inspiring. To watch an indie film maker battle an industry giant for the number one spot during the movie’s opening weekend was history making.

Reflecting back on “Iron Lung’s” success, I could not help but be filled with hope. With the rise of AI slop and film reboots, it has felt like the film industry does not care about artistry, or story, and as an aspiring film maker, it is depressing.

But watching this movie succeed has given me the hope. Maybe complex stories aren’t falling to the wayside in favor of cash grab films. Maybe there is a renaissance in our future.

And the film itself is so hopeful despite what it is about.

In the film, Simon (Mark Fischbach) is a convict who is welded into a submarine in order to navigate the blood sea and learn more about it. This is his penance.

The goal of Simon’s mission is to find something that will help keep the dwindling population of humans alive.

However, things take a turn for the worse as Simon gets separated from the tugboat and has to navigate the blood ocean alone in order to get back home.

With this description, you may get an idea of how the film may pan out. It is very tense, and there were moments where I was physically holding my breath with how worried I was.

Despite this tension and fear, there are small moments of brevity – moments where I laughed because I was so relieved it was not worse.

This brevity comes from delicately walking the line between horror and comedy. Both use tension to build on themselves and then release it when necessary.

But the best part of the film was how it portrayed its characters.

Initially, I went into the movie with the mindset, “Haha, this is another Markiplier project where he plays one of the main characters.” I was shocked to find that not even a quarter way through the movie,  that mindset had disappeared completely.

“Iron Lung” is not like, “In Space with Markiplier,” or “A Heist with Markiplier,” because unlike the former, the characters in the latter two are caricatures. They do not feel three dimensional and many of them come off as flat and dramatic, which is the point.

However, the characters in “Iron Lung” feel like real people. Despite knowing very little about any of the characters, what we see of them makes them so human.

Making the characters feel real helps us identify with them. It makes us want what they want.

For the characters in the Consolidation of Iron (the place that imprisoned Simon), what they want is a sign that there might be hope.

They send Simon down into the ocean looking for something that will save the human race. But that is not what they are really looking for.

They know that in the ocean of blood, there is no cure to extinction.

What they are really looking for is a sign. Something, anything, that will tell them they are on the right track; that sending people into the ocean of blood is not a fruitless endeavor.

They are looking for something to give them hope. But that is not what hope is.

At the end of “Iron Lung: Final Trailer,” and within a monologue Simon does in the film, he says, “I just want to live. Is that so wrong? Why doesn’t anybody else want that?”

This line feels so desperate, hopeless and most importantly, real. We empathize with him because if we were in the same situation, we would understand.

At this moment, Simon has a choice. He can either give up, or to get up and try again. Nobody would blame him if he gave up. If I were in an iron submarine at the bottom of a blood ocean with no help in sight, I would probably give up.

But he does not. The hope that he may be able to survive this surpasses his fear that he might not.

This recurs throughout the film. Simon gets into a situation where things feel hopeless, and then, despite his fear, he keeps moving forward.

It becomes this cycle throughout the film and watching it happen over and over again really stuck with me.

This film reminds the audience that hope is not a beacon of light. It is not just a word on a poster in your therapist’s office.

Hope is an action. It is a choice.

It is feeling fear and continuing on despite it. Whether that is for self preservation, or for the “greater good,” it really does not matter.

What matters is that you keep going. That you keep fighting, even if that fight feels fruitless.

Now, more than ever, this message is important. It drives us to fight for the things we need, but also the future we want.

We do not have to drown in a sea of our own despair. Instead, we are encouraged to fight, because what we are fighting for is bigger than our own wants.

If you get the chance to see “Iron Lung” I cannot recommend it enough. Some time in the future, it is set to come out on streaming services, so keep an eye out.