User reviews

Former US President Billy and his scientific advisor Ray are the last two humans alive, living in a custom made done, surviving on a custom built eco system, but when their last female fish dies, they are forced to re-evaluate their situation.

Mark Duplass writes and stars, and he's rather good I thought, Sterling K. Brown was excellent, the chemistry between the pair was excellent, and one of the film's strongest points.

First off, I can totally get why some people have slated it, this is a movie that is genuinely not for everyone, arguably not for most, but I do like the odd movie now and then, and this remarkably odd movie was just so different.

The story is over the top and outlandish, it definitely had a strong relevance for this day and age, lots of talk about gender, sex and masculinity, but it does not preach.

An odd mix of drama, sci fi, fantasy and comedy, there were quite a few occasions that I burst out laughing, not sure if it was the gags, or the sheer bonkers story.

It's a crazy film, but I enjoyed it.

7/10.

Ray (Sterling K. Brown) and Billy (Mark Duplass) are best friends and last people on Earth. They survive under a dome built by Ray. They rely on fish farming for food, but the last female fish just died. Eventually, their fishes will run out and so will they. Somehow, life finds a way.

This is an indie from Mel Eslyn and Mark Duplass. It's a two person play and a high concept sci-fi post-apocalyptic flick. It starts with some mildly humorous best friends banter. It turns into an one-joke concept. I would like the premise to have a more specific scientific explanation. I doubt that the film cares that much about that. They are playing this for the comedy. It's awkward. It's uncomfortable. It's cringe comedy and only slightly funny to me.

At the end of the world, former President of the United States Billy (Mark Duplass) and his science advisor and best friend Ray (Sterling K. Brown) live out their existence in a self-sufficient shelter made by Ray. When the last female fish in their eco system dies, the two become consigned to the fact their days are now number with the artificial ecosystem no longer self-sufficient. However, destruction is averted when one of the remaining male fish begins to undergo sequential hermaphroditism, the process of which allows it to change from male to female and procreate. With the appearance of a mysterious greenlight in the sky, a similar process soon begins to happen to Billy.

Biosphere comes to us from the Duplass Brothers production company and is written and directed by Mel Eslyn along with Mark Duplass who also stars in the movie based on an outline the two developed at a writers retreat in 2018. As one can note from the Duplass films of the past, the brothers have a filmmaking style that often mixes quirky indie tropes around uncomfortable or charged topics. Biosphere is no different here as it takes a very loaded approach and while it has charm and some unique ideas, it also feels like a movie that's maybe a little too stretched.

To start off on a positive note, Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass have fantastic chemistry together and with the movie being a chamber piece it definitely needed that authentic buddy dynamic in order to sell this premise with the two being something of an "odd couple" with Ray the more optimistic and knowledgeable one while Billy is the slightly dumber pessimist. The movie itself is rather odd and the best way I can describe it is if we followed Dr. Strangelove past its ending and mixed it with the movie Nothing with a seasoning of Junior (the Schwarzenegger film from 1994). The directions the movie takes are so unexpected (especially going in blind) that I was legitimately engaged in spite of the rather rambling nature of the film. The movie clocks in at about 107 minutes, and it definitely feels like it could've benefitted from being trimmed to a leaner 85 to 90 at most. A big reason is the primary plot doesn't really shift into gear until about a half hour in and that first half hour offers a lot of points that feel repeated throughout the later bit of the film. I certainly enjoyed the shifting character dynamics and relationships in the film, even if the film itself sometimes proved a challenge to get through. Biosphere certainly isn't the first film to go into this kind of territory as it was flirted with in the 1985 science fiction film Enemy Mine and we even saw it explored to a degree in the "Brinky" episode of Pinky and the Brain, and while I definitely prefer those over this given the choice, Biosphere isn't without it's own insights into the premise.

Biosphere won't be for everyone and for people who already like the Duplass brothers or premise you'll need to give the film a lot of patience in order to get to the best parts of the film. For those willing to give it a chance you'll find a flawed movie, but one with some interesting ideas.

It's an interesting premise. The strength of this film is the way the setup and characters back stories are disbursed very gradually, a drip at a time, which keeps your attention. In the end though, the set up doesn't really matter a whole lot.

When the main thrust of the narrative becomes clear, rather than running with it and guiding us towards a memorable conclusion, the film chooses to go with blandness, presumably hoping we take the non-committal ending to be open and courageous, and not simply uninspired.

Good performances, good ideas, good direction. The story was just a little too weak for me.

Sterling K Brown is always a pleasure to watch he is so good at his craft. This could easily have been a stage play with its simple yet thought-provoking ideas on gender, humanity and friendship. In fact, it probably would have received better reviews as a play! Mark Duplass creates a claustrophobic, moody atmosphere on a small set that focuses on big ideas. At the same time, it's ironic humour cuts through it's serious side. Leaving lots of unanswered questions, don't expect deeply researched scientific theory, nor good science fiction. I enjoyed it for the acting and deep it's ideas on gender and humanity.

Biosphere combines romcom and message movie elements with a science fiction plot, with the latter pulling those elements from the genre which serve to support the message by putting characters in a particular situation, as distinguished from scifi that's more rooted in the popular entertainment aspects of the genre. This kind of science fiction drama will appeal to a certain audience if it's well-written from beginning to end. It's relatively uncommon for me to find something that I think is wildly overrated on Letterboxd. Biosphere is an audacious but ultimately unsuccessful film.

The movie is funny in parts, and the acting is very good. It falls short for me in a couple of key areas. First, it's too long for what it's trying to achieve. If it'd been condensed to an hour, it could have been more impactfull. Instead, it delivers exposition too slowly via scenes that are too similar to be anything but repetitive; lingering shots that are supposed to have emotional resonance, but somehow don't; and other scenes that are just longer than necessary.

I also found the score annoying, distracting, and too cute by half, though I'm sure some people will find it quaint or amusing. This shortcoming extends to the film's conclusion, which is like the lame punchline to a joke that took too long to tell.

There's a lot I like about Biosphere and a lot that didn't fit right for me. The obvious thing that works about this film are it's performances by Sterling K Brown and Mark Duplass. Brown brings a sturdiness to Duplass's humor, creating a great dynamic that is fun to watch and believable. Brown's character Ray provides a grounding to such a serious moment. Duplass's Billy brings the levity necessary to keep two guys in a small dome funny and fresh. Some of the dialog and plot points in this film are absolutely hilarious.

This film has a huge idea and a very small scope to demonstrate it. The choice to skip most of the exposition in how we got here is welcome. I enjoy not being spoon fed the situation, reading clues and attempting to discover what has happened and what will happen is much more satisfying. Throughout the film, I kept wondering "how will they wrap this up?" And they did so by leaving all of the plot points as loose ends which will bother many who watch Biosphere. I didn't mind this choice but the ending left me with a bit of a "then what?" Feeling.

It's hard to review this film without spoilers, but there is so much to the backstory that is never fleshed out, no flashbacks, no additional settings or characters. With such a small scope, some will be very aggrieved at this, others will be content like I was to explore what we do know. This scope hampers the development of place and time but enhances the interest in our two characters and their potential outcomes. The feeling of place in this movie is quite distinct but somewhat empty given our lack of outside knowledge.

Making a film that explores a theory becoming reality is incredibly challenging. Duplass and Brown are able to deliver on this tall, daunting task but it's not great by any stretch.

Before screening this film at The Toronto Film Festival, the presenter asked the audience not to spoil it. This request limits the possibility of a thorough review, as there is not much that can be said about it's plot without giving away it's one trick pony.

Genre-wise, the film steers between sci-fi, drama and grotesque comedy, relying on a single outstretched joke that becomes quite tiresome after multiple iterations. Some members of the audience were laughing throughout, but it may have just as well been a coping mechanism to deal with content that wasn't entirely easy to stomach.

There wasn't any actual beginning or an end, just references to a backstory that was never fully explored. There was no resolution offered here either, making it feel as though the writers have given up halfway.

What did hold this together and stopped me from walking out (in addition to my middle row seat), was the excellent acting by Sterling K. Brown & Mark Duplass. They were extremely believable, despite the ridiculousness of the plot, adding to the overall atmosphere of discomfort that it evoked.

Two Gen X guys are isolated in a biosphere and may be the last humans alive: this is surely one of the oddest bromance set-ups to come along in a long time. We learn their shared backstory progressively, though never in much detail. The little we know, both about their backgrounds and about the technological underpinnings of their habitat, doesn't make much sense when you stop to think about it, but clearly the idea is that you're not supposed to.

The two survive on a limited supply of before-times foods, both of the edible (in cans) and cultural kinds (Nitendo, pop music on vinyl, some books, some old videos and a set of Shakespeare sitting unread on the shelf stand in for all that is left of world civilization), and by keeping up a steady stream of humorous-aggressive banter that builds up to the breaking point and then (since they are apparently doomed to live together in a Sartrean, or Beckettesque, no-exit dyad until their deaths) recedes, in carefully-timed, almost operatic, waves of aggression and affection . They have, we learn, been close since childhood. That they are both American (very) is obvious, yet that one of them (the smarter one) is Black and the other (the more successful one, of course) is white is never mentioned or explored -- it just is, like so much in this odd, but affecting, film.

It helps that the Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass (a co-writer and the originator of this baroque and perhaps overwritten screenplay) have a lot of the chemistry and verve (if not always the perfect timing) of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, the original Odd Couple, and so the many terrific jokes (against the grimmest possible backdrop) are brought off with real brio, keeping things mostly light (interspersed with those moments of tension) and the audience laughter flowing.

Needless to say, the sexual discomfort of two straight American bros flung into claustrophobic intimacy will lead into dangerous challenges to gender assumptions. Calling each other "dude" serves as a talisman, the crucifix and holy water that ward off the unthinkable, until things take a turn for the immensely bizarre. Since the filmmakers are hugely sensitive about spoilers and desperate that those who have seen the film keep the actual plot lines secret, I'll say no more about that side of things, but what happens does allow for some serious reflection on those themes, if you care to look beyond the gags. Even though, again, what actually happens doesn't make a lot of sense if you think about it very hard or even not very. (Nor does what happens to the very important fish with which the two share their little world, and which all are given well-deserved credits, as does their wrangler.)

A two-actor, cast in a sealed environment, would perhaps lend itself better to being a stage play. As a film, it is plenty diverting, but it probably goes on a little longer (through at least a couple too many of those waves of tension and release) than is ideal. Using a single set also poses cinematographic challenges, though these are on the whole quite well handled, making the film perhaps more watchable than you might expect. The ending is a bit arbitrary -- it's like the dynamics between the two are a kind of perpetual-motion machine that can only be stopped by, well, simply stopping it. But it's all great fun while it's happening. Even though, if you do stop and think about it, having these two guys be (maybe) the last humans is a also a pretty depressing thought.

It really left an imprint. So much happening in such a small space and time. The acting is brilliant. You really feel that you're in there with them and there's no camera.

It explores themes that reaches us all. The themes of identity and ego. The bowling ball being a constant metaphor and reference hit hard and was truly the essence of the film/message, I found.

When Sterling K. Brown tears up in "This Is Us", I feel very little, although when he does in this, it hit me hard. Setup and context makes this reward so satisfying. I will give this another watch soon. Its a brave and bold film and it succeeds. I was trying to explain the film to my girlfriend, and I sounded dumb and confused. Just goes to show how effective it was, as when watching it, I didn't feel any silliness whatsoever.

Vincent Valentino - Filmmaker.

'Biosphere (2022)' starts out simply enough, focusing on a pair of men living in a self-sustaining structure while the rest of the world is seemingly dead. Soon, though, this two-man chamber piece evolves into something genuinely unexpected. The best way to experience it really is to know nothing further about it than its initial logline; I guarantee you that you won't know where it's going at least until it drops its first major hint towards its eventual direction. Not only is its plot surprising (at least when it comes to its, I suppose, inciting incident and the themes this causes it to focus on), it's actually really interesting. It's not good just because it's unexpected, as it's a distinct and - in some ways - challenging picture that takes its premise and gently develops it in some really considered ways. Unfortunately, once it begins to head down its ultimate path, there's only really so many places for it to go and its conclusion feels kind of inevitable (at least when it comes to its most major aspect). On the plus side, this doesn't dampen the feature's success. Although it's perhaps a little too long considering the limitations of its concept, this single-location drama is consistently engaging and strikes a good balance between humour and sincerity. Held aloft by two compelling performances from Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass (Brown, in particular, acts his ass off here, even though he doesn't really need to; he's genuinely great in the role and adds a lot of weight to even the movie's silliest moments), the flick moves forwards at a decent pace and alternates between comedy and drama as confidently as you could imagine. There are a couple of lulls here and there, but mostly this is entertaining and enjoyable for its duration. Sadly, its ending is extremely underwhelming. Despite some potentially intriguing ambiguity, the climax sort of just fizzles out without actually resolving all that much and it definitely dampens the overall experience. Still, this is an absurd yet sincere picture that's as fun as it is thought-provoking. It's a really solid effort.

The acting was good, considering the material they had to work with. The set looks cheap. You can see the plants are wilted, because they did not originally grow in the hydroponic medium or the studio lights fried them or both. The pond is way too small for the size of the fish. It reminded me of the fish you see swimming in the tank before being served with fresh ginger and a soy sauce, with a little chilly.

This shambles of a movie looks and sounds cheap, thrown together by well-meaning people that need to work. Don't they realise that just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Even if you are willing to suspend belief, it's still boring. It has one note, and that is a B-flat. You won't get that 1 hour and 40 minutes back. There is only so much BS you can take before you throw the baby out with the bath water. How does good Art get made? Not like this, you've been warned. If you're an insomniac try watching this before bed time, you'll be out like a light, sweet dreams.

John Money would approve of this movie, that's all you need to know.

Its disturbing this is where we are. 'Biosphere' is obviously a film attempting to normalize and propagate Alfred Kinsey and John Money's male/female interchangeability theories.

Biosphere starts out interesting but quickly turns into 'odd and just uncomfortable'. The film feels like its trying to present like 2011's 'The Sunset Limited' (an excellent film BTW) in that its just 2 guys in a room, engaging in dialog, that's ultimately suppose to culminate in some sort of revelation by the end. That is not what happens in Biosphere, through. It just gets weird and worse as it goes on.

Overall 'Biosphere' does not represent the caliber of film that I have come to expect from the minds of Duplass.

Greetings again from the darkness. 'Life will find a way.' The iconic line spoken by Jeff Goldblum in JURASSIC PARK (1993) fits right into this offbeat science-fiction film from writer-director Mel Eslyn and co-writer and co-lead actor Mark Duplass. You may not be familiar with indie filmmaker Eslyn, but Duplass has built a career by specializing in projects that rip us out of our comfort zone, and then force us to consider a topic from a new perspective ... as evidenced by films like CYRUS (2010) and CREEP (2014).

The pre-credit opening scenes quickly establish the personalities of Ray (Sterling K Brown) and Billy (Duplass). Ray is a dedicated and serious scientist, while Billy is the former US President (likely inspired by George W Bush). The two are lifelong friends who have been living a few years isolated in the biodome created by Ray. We are to assume these are the final two human survivors on Earth, and we may also assume they are still alive thanks to Ray's ecosystems of fish for protein and plants for nutrients.

Initially, this gives us the appearance of a buddy film as the two men share a morning jog and discuss the dynamics of Mario and Luigi. It's the first of our clues, along with Billy reading "Kiss of the Spider Woman", and the repeated viewings of LETHAL WEAPON. However, the tone shifts pretty quickly with a certain development in the fish habitat. It's best to avoid any further specifics on where the story goes from here, because although there are leaps of faith that must occur by viewers, the core elements raised here are certainly unusual.

A recurring gag about a magic trick with a bowling ball (and its thud), and an ever-present green light in the sky, punctuate the Ray and Billy chats centered on philosophy, gender roles, friendship, masculinity, adaptation, and of course, survival. This is termed a "two-hander" since only two performers make up the entire cast. Sterling K Brown and Mark Duplass are both likable actors and they expertly overcome any shortcomings in the script. And despite those flaws, you'll likely carry on some internal discussions with yourself long after the final drop.

Opening on July 7, 2023.

A curious little indie that is delivered through key support from Mark and Jay Duplass, with Mark taking on co-leading man duties with the game Sterling K. Brown, debut feature film director Mel Eslyn's single location dramedy Biosphere is unlike anything you've likely seen before in ways both good and bad, with this high-concept genre bending offering one that provides a varying experience that ranges from engaging to irksome, often within the space of mere minutes between each up and down.

Set entirely in a small custom designed dome that survives off regular air supply and a dwindling supply of fish in a world where the last two humans alive are Duplass's Billy and Brown's Ray, long term friends and avid Super Mario players that found their successful careers in politics cut short by a catastrophic world event that has seemingly doomed mankind's future to an inevitable conclusion.

Saying too much more about how the slowly unravelling plot unfolds in Eslyn's film would be a disservice to viewers who are in for a wild and surprising ride, with an on face value buddy dramedy film far away from the product we actually get as we start to delve into evolutionary angles and life-changing scenarios that are wild, wacky and even at times tinged with a decent emotional heft, making Biosphere an experience that will enrapture others but alienate others, pending entirely on their tolerance and acceptance of where Billy and Ray's arcs begin to head.

In a day and age where originality can often be the subject of outcries in an industry many accuse of being too cookie cutter or people pleasing, it's always refreshing to see something like Biosphere come along and attempt to shake up expectations and go where no film has yet gone and while there are elements in Eslyn's film that feel familiar, for the most part the film does a solid job of carving out it's own pathway with the commitment of Duplass and Brown undeniable as the two talented leads chew on ample dialogue and play off one another in a series of situations that could've completely derailed the film at any moment.

For a film with such a limited scope in a setting sense no one could deny that Biosphere tries to tackle a series of big issues and high reaching concepts, some of which pay off and others that don't but for anyone that wants to watch something a little outside of the normal or too be expected, Biosphere may just be their new favourite with potential cult fandom soon to come its way.

Final Say -

A film that is best left to be discovered rather than explained prior to a viewing, Biosphere doesn't stick all of its landings but there's enough going on here including two notable lead turns to suggest Biosphere is worth visiting for open-minded viewers.

2 1/2 foot massages out of 5

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

I have to be honest, I had no idea what I was getting into going into this movie, but I must say it was truly unique. I have watched way too many terrible movies in the last year, and I don't know if it was because of COVID, yet they haven't seemed to be getting any better but this was refreshingly different. They did an outstanding job at emphasizing some touchy topics (for some) with comedy, drama and science. An impressive movie and an even more impressive cast!

As soon as I watched this movie at TIFF, I just had to tell my friends and family about this hilarious movie I watched. Unfortunately, it's hard to explain too much without giving away a lot of it, which is why I can't wait for them to see it.

If you'd love a good laugh, this movie is just what you're looking for. I'd highly recommend it.

In my brain this comes across as a hybrid of biodome, idiocracy, Species, Splice and a Twilight zone episode perhaps lol. Very creative concept, and excellent acting. Worth a watch, and definitely a fun conversational piece. Although It may be pushing the envelope on some crude subjects for those that are sensitive.

It's funny, but Not in an over-the-top idiotic way. Just the right amount of humor, and odd situation antics. Very impressed that these two dudes pulled all that off. Would love to see the blooper real, my guess is that it would be 3 weeks long lol. Considering they basically had one main set, and only two main actors, it kept you watching till the end haha.

Mark Duplass two-person movies aren't great (no matter his co-star). "Blue Jay" sucked, "Paddleton" was meh, and now "Biosphere" is bizarrely odd - and NOT in a good way. After an apocalyptic event it seems Duplass & Sterling K Brown (likeable) are the only survivors, in the small titular dome Brown built... where inane bro-banter morphs into outlandish, cringeworthy nonsense under the thinest veil of serious sci-fi. Written (by Duplass & debut writer Mel Eslyn (also its debut director)) like a high-school homework play, it has too many gaping plot holes to list, adding to a seemingly deliberate tone of surreal implausibility. Original it may be... but good, it def'ly is not.