My Iron Lung Theories

My thoughts on Iron Lung after my first watch:

The movie never gives any clear answers about... well, anything. We know little about how far technologically humanity has come (has to be farther than we are now since we're told stars and such disappeared and humanity's numbers are now scarce. Putting two and two together humanity has been able to colonize other planets), we get a little of how Simon ended up in the Iron Lung (we know his group blew up a station, but that's also it), and the monster of the movie is a big question mark too. With so much ambiguity in the movie, I felt as the audience we're given the task to finish the story how we see fit.

About halfway through the movie Simon is asked if he believes in God. Even from the very beginning of the movie we are told that a "quiet rapture" had taken place, planting the idea that a possible God has decided to make itself noticed and is now interfering with humanity. After Simon talks with a disembodied voice, it talks about finding "the truth" and urges Simon to come see it for himself before giving him coordinates. Simon considers it but is contacted by the ships captain with new orders of obtaining a Blackbox of a downed ship. 

Viewing the movie through the lens of a real or fake God, the unanswered questions we're left with are obviously done purposely. 

Because the audience is left with questions regarding the monster and God itself, I feel the focus should be on neither. Instead the main theme is about the desperate hope we strive for in dire times.

The beginning of the movie explicitly shows Simon saying, "I want to live." He's put in his situation as punishment but is trying his best to finish it to reclaim his freedom. Halfway through the movie his oxygen levels drop to a quarter ways and he's brought to the realization that he very well could die in that machine, all alone in an ocean of blood. But, towards the end when he's talking with the disembodied voice he's asked if he's willing to give everything to survive, and he says yes. After coming face to face with death he turns to believing in "something greater than him" which is saving the blackblock. He has no idea what the Blackbox contains, but because he needs something to believe in, the Blackbox is the answer to humanities survival according to him. Whatever the monster is or isn't doesn't matter to Simon because now he's found his own "god" which is the blackbox. I especially loved how we, the audience, don't know what data the Blackbox holds (not only because the characters themselves don't know as well but) because it makes the blind hope that much more desperate. Simon doesn't know what's in the blackbox, but it HAS to be important in order for his death to mean something.

My thoughts after the second viewing:

I'm actually surprised how differently I view the movie now. The best way I can explain the monster is that I think it's a birdbox (2018) situation. I think the monster is in a way information itself, and whoever the monster "claims" (possibly kills) is now a part of it, like a hive mind, and now that person needs to spread this glorious "information" (find other humans for the monster). Halfway through the movie we learn that a long sequence of events didn't happen because a machine that we saw get broken is shown to be completely intact. I believed the first time I saw the movie that this was true, Simon experienced a dream/hallucination after getting knocked out. Now, I think that the events that happened did happen how we see. During the "dream" the monster attacks the submarine with some rays, completely slicing through the metal. We hear another disembodied voice, but we can see Simon saying, "Deal" (these events happening after the first disembodied voice asking him is he'd give everything to survive). I think Simon made a deal with the monster because not only was his oxygen level at quarter full for much more longer than it should've been (according to how much time passed in the movie) but his oxygen level went up! The submarine (to our knowledge) has no mechanism to make its own oxygen, proven by Simon having to go to the drop station to get his oxygen filled. I believe these were the work of the monster helping Simon stay alive in order to fullfil its agenda (get more humans to the monster).

At the end of the movie the monster turns on Simon and starts chasing him in the sub. This happens after Simon talks with the submarine captain and is given the task of getting the blackbox to the captain. I think this is because Simon copied the blackbox data, and in a way took the monsters power with it (if the monster is an amalgamation of information). If the monster can only claim people face to face, having it (the information) copied means it can't grow its hive mind. 

(Other evidence: a recording that was downloaded from the blackbox has two women talking, one of them telling the other to stop drinking the blood. The Moon The movie takes place is covered in an ocean of blood. If the monster "infects" through blood, we actively hear a person get claimed into the hivemind. Two interesting scenes go as follows, Simon sees this shadowy figure in the back of the ship. A little while after Simon is in the back of the ship and spots a figure sitting in his chair. These scenes are a direct reflection of each other, I believe to show how the monster gave Simon a "second chance at life"; the scene where Simon is out of the sub and in the blood/water we can see a giant... thing infront of him, I believe representing the monster (showing it in a godly way as it seems to posess godly powers in my theory) and Simon being held down by his bracelet repredenting if he wants to assimilate with the monster he'll be leaving his past life behind (obviously if hes going to lose all autonomy and become one with the hive mind.)

My thoughts after a third viewing (while 🍃):

I currently have 3 theories as to the story of Iron Lung: It's about God vs Satan, the monster is a hivemind, or possibly we are seeing the aftermath of another space race.

Iron Lung's monster is Satan (And Ava's God?)

From the start of the movie there's religious subtext. The narrator says, "they won't tell you the truth, but I will!" And I believe this voice is Simon after he agrees to work with Satan (let me cook). Something the disembodied voice asked Simon is if he believes in God. The conversation goes on a tangent about the "light" the disembodied voice saw, and they continue to talk about whatever they saw was like a God (or Satan?).

When Ava was talking to Simon near the end of the movie and he would go quiet or hesitated to reply to her (assuming he may be siding with the devil) she would scream at Simon. In this way, Ava and the monster/Satan were fighting over who got to claim Simon.

Ava consistently asks Simon to have blind faith in her, which (I HAVE BEEN TOLD) is very on brand for the Christian God. That's lowkey it for my evidence, it's kind of a "if you see it through this lense it can make sense" thing. 

The monster is a hivemind

I think the monster is a hivemind, and Simon accidentally agreed to join. I previously stated before I believe the monster and Simon made a deal (from Simon literally saying "deal"), and the catch was Simon was to be saved, to "see the light" and whatever, and in his place would be a soulless husk ready to find new victims. The scene where a shadow and Simon are direct mirrors of each other is a literal showing of them switching places. When Simon turns against the disembodied voice he yells, "You want me? Come and get me!" And the camera zooms in to show his eyes turning red. Simon's final scene after the monster attacks him is a closeup of his eye changing color and the disembodied voice saying we are one. Some change definitely happened to Simon by his eyes literally changing at the very least.

Iron Lung is the aftermath of a galactic space race

We know of two peoples in the universe (that are left), Eden and COI. We see flashbacks of a tree from a young Simon's point of view, Eden's colonized planet.

The disembodied voice says to Simon (at first calling Ava, insinuating she's the one that sent her down there), "We can work together this time!" So they were against each other previously. I think when trying to find whatever caused the space race in the first place, an all powerful alien was accidentally found and literally everything that the happened was due to us waking up the alien and letting it know of our existence. 

Extra info I picked up:

-In Simon's haze, we hear Ava telling him they have a current map thanks to her chief. 

-From the blackbox recording we hear a message from someone that sounds like the disembodied voice Simon hears after getting lost. The message directly mentiond Ava by name, was she the chief?

-When the disembodied voice said, "Simon," Simon says that he never told her his name. The voice replies, "Yes you did." I thought the monster/disembodied voice was just lying to cover for itself BUT when Simon finds himself stranded in the ocean hes face to face with the monster. Simon then says aloud if someone is looking for Simon I'm still alive. Confirming the disembodied voice is (or at least is connected to) the monster.