Biosphere

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.

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.

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.