Biosphere Review: A Bizarre Yet Bland Sci-fi Buddy Comedy

Biosphere fails to capitalize on its interesting sci-fi premise and ends up delivering a forgettable mumblecore buddy comedy.

Two lifelong friends – Billy (Mark Duplass) and Ray (Sterling K. Brown) – live in a self-sustaining dome. They are the only survivors left after a cataclysmic event. Their routine is disrupted by a strange turn of events that will challenge their friendship and survival.

When you decide to watch this movie after getting lured by its summary, you’ll find that you won’t be disappointed. Well, at first anyway.

Biosphere has the elements to examine how two people can adapt to changes that reflect current events. Unfortunately, what the movie does to these elements, falls short of its aspirations to become a thought-provoking parable of the human condition in the 21st century.

The movie asks – can two bros survive isolation, limited resources, and gender evolution to restart humanity?

Cast performances do most of the heavy lifting. Duplass and Brown have the chemistry to convince you their characters are close friends. It’s revealed that Billy was the president and Ray was his key advisor, who’s also a scientist.

Ray built a fully functional dome despite Billy’s crayon drawing, which immediately tells you the difference between them. The setting looks like a stage set from a play. It’s enough to provide a succinct explanation of their situation even though it’s never exactly revealed what caused it.

Clues are sprinkled in the plot. For example, Billy reads “The Kiss of the Spider Woman” and discovers the story is about two men in prison.

There’s a lot of talking and armchair psychology. When something does happen, the script doesn’t dig deeper into how the gender twist changes Billy and Ray’s relationship. The characters tell where the plot is going, and the audience is already one step ahead. Worse, the movie doesn’t know how to end because it doesn’t know how to answer its question.

Biosphere ends the same way it lands, with a vague thud.