Critic Reviews

All you need to do is open your mind to its wonders and you may too discover something about yourself along the way.

With a script co-written by Eslyn and Duplass, Biosphere retains the distinct brand of organic conversational comedy that’s been present in the duo’s collaborative crossover for the past nearly 15 years.

I can say without hyperbole that there are conversations in this movie that I have never heard before (and refuse to spoil). Better, I can confirm that Brown — the straight man to Duplass’s comic relief — delivers his half with conviction.

Mel Eslyn’s film is a thoughtful drama about life, gender, and male friendship.

While Duplass, of course, adds plenty as the primary source of levity, Brown emerges as the standout. This is an actor who can apparently do anything.

Ultimately the performers are winning enough, and the ideas in the ambiguous story intriguing enough, to achieve an end result of successful middleweight charm and substance.

Eslyn has full control of every element of the filmmaking process and the team to execute that vision. Fenton's production design fits the film perfectly and every little touch works to build out this world. Duplass and Brown are an unlikely, but deeply successful, duo.

While this funny and humorous study of a post-apocalyptic change excels in exploring some of its more philosophical traits, the substance regarding its core story is not quite there. Yet, this deserves a watch for its comedic rendering of the complex storyline.

Biosphere is tons of fun as a character study, but its ideas will leave you gazing out of its geodesic windows, wishing there was something more out there.

It’s still not bad, and its pacing works surprisingly well given its paucity of plot. Fans of the actors, or of low-key, high-concept sci-fi, should be pleasantly surprised. For others, mere surprise may be all that awaits.