my thoughts on iron lung (spoiler warning obviously)

so i just finished watching iron lung in theatres and i have a lot of thoughts though i will clear up off the bat that i think the movie was pretty excellent especially as a directorial debut feature film (though obviously hes had plenty of practice with his way more blatantly indie projects, many of which i love, especially the highly underrated "wilford motherloving warfstashe")
that being said i anticipate there is going to be a lot of public discussion and wildly differing interpretations of not just the ending but practically the entire latter 2/3 of the film so i wanted to get my obviously objectively correct opinions and thematic analysis out there before the tempest blows in

so first off i want to state for the record that i think anything after the scene where the iron lung gets hit while he was bringing up the skeleton is completely unreliable evidence for any kind of concrete understanding of his surroundings at that point, possibly discounting flashbacks
i also speculate that the oxygen meter on the thing was probably broken maybe in that impact maybe later
like that bitch said hed been down there for three fucking days at that point and it was still at one dot so he was probably barely functioning due to oxygen deprivation along with the obvious multiple concussions and probably blood loss

so with that out of the way i do not think there is anything actually supernatural in this film unless you count the quiet rapture which imo isnt particularly relevant and i dont think the story has any real interest in looking at past its utility as a narrative device (which is totally fucking fine and if you ask me, outright ideal)
i think that obviously the fish or whatever exists but that from a certain point the vast majority of his sensory experience was entirely hallucinatory especially in the ending sequence
there is no "fragment of light" or shapeshifting mass of souls in the blood just a big fish that cracked the hull of the ship (pay notice to the total lack of weird tendril/barnacle looking growths on the black box info when they find it)
i dont believe that JUST because a real supernatural element like that in this story would be insanely contrived and run-of-the-mill (as true as that is), i just think that that would make the most satisfying thematic meaning out of the ending sequence

as i see it, most of the hallucinations seemed heavily themed and oriented around his relationship with eden, his 'brothers', and especially the man who raised him and that mans teachings (which i remind you the movie literally opens on)
theyre intentionally written and delivered like a sermon which frames him almost like a cult leader and i think that the crux of the ending revolves around simon contending with his feelings of simultaneous guilt and resentment towards the remaining humans and how those feelings tie to his relationship with his father
i havent arrived at a very clear conclusion of what i think it says about those things but the narrative is clearly heavily focused on the idea of simon doing the best thing he can do for the remaining humans even as he is subconsciously hating himself for it and trying to come up with an excuse to give up out of spite
and so his subconscious seems to be illustrated through the lens of his father figures teachings and ideas about the fate of humanity which he metaphorically and also LITERALLY (with great strength and pain) breaks out of like shackles or ties holding him to the ship

im kind of rambling now but yeah i dont think theres anything supernatural and i think the movie is mainly about simon breaking free from the way he expects himself to be based on how we was raised and treated in society which is cool