1. The Chamber (2016)
Directed by Ben Parker · With Charlotte Salt, Johannes Kuhnke, James McArdle
Four people in a small research submarine are pulled into a secret military recovery job on the sea floor. After an explosion leaves the sub disabled and taking on water, they have to find a way out before the air and the nerves give out.
Why it’s similar to Iron Lung
The closest physical match on the list: a small metal capsule, failing equipment, and a world outside the hull that nobody can reach. Like Iron Lung, the film is mostly about people in a tiny space learning what pressure does to them.
What sets it apart
It is a lean British thriller with a small cast and no monster, so the threat is the water and each other. It is less stylish than Iron Lung, and the story is more of a standard thriller, but it makes good use of its one location.
