Worth: $12.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Mark Duplass, Sterling K. Brown
Intro:
… quirky and undeniably original …
Since the dawn of existence, humankind has been obsessed with its own extinction, both personally and collectively. It’s one of the fundamental things that unites us. Consequently, we’ve had an almost endless stream of books, video games, comic books and movies all dealing with our (arguably inevitable) destruction. Some of these works have been alarmist, others comedic, while still others have been downright bizarre. However, it has to be said, Biosphere is probably the most relaxed and lowkey apocalyptic yarn around, which is both positive and negative.
Biosphere is the story of two buds, Billy (Mark Duplass) and Ray (Sterling K. Brown), who are quite possibly the last two surviving members of the human race. After a never specifically defined apocalyptic event, the pair manages to get themselves into a dome and are trying to stay sane and not obsess too much about their dwindling food supply and the past. It’s not easy, though. See, Billy was the most recent President of the United States and feels responsible for the fate of the planet (which he may well have been, just quietly) and Ray was his scientific advisor, so there’s plenty of guilt to go around. Worse still is the crushing sense of boredom and ennui, which affects Billy in particular, and the pair need to keep engaging in light-hearted banter and childhood reminiscing to keep the existential terror at bay. Things take a turn for the awkward, however, when Billy begins showing dramatic signs of sudden physical evolution that changes the dynamic between the pair.
Without giving too much away, neither man is particularly well equipped to deal with what follows.
Biosphere is a loose and shambolic film, that moves along at an amiably relaxed pace and isn’t interested in hitting moments of high drama or tension. This both works for and against it. On the one hand, it’s nice to see a film give the actors room to work and Sterling K. Brown in particular takes advantage of this languid vibe, delivering a nuanced performance. On the other hand, it goes on a bit! One hundred and seven minutes of two blokes in a confined space talking about Super Mario Brothers isn’t quite as engaging as director/co-writer Mel Eslyn seems to believe. The result is a film that frustrates as much as it amuses, with some nicely observed moments but also a whole bunch of listless and forgettable ones.
There’s also little in the way of concrete resolutions here, so if you’re the sort of person who loathes ambiguous endings, you probably want to avoid this particular apocalypse. Still and all, Biosphere is certainly quirky and undeniably original, so if you’re in the mood for a mumbly, shaggy, lightly transgressive extinction, Biosphere might fit that very specific bill.
