Biosphere Reviews
Though it ends in an unsatisfying way, it's interesting along the way.
This was okay. Like frogs, these guys found a way.
One of the best films I've seen in recent times, criminally underrated! I hope these creators make more stuff soon. Great writing, surprising & rich performances. Truly compelling execution, manages to stay light & entertaining while tackling some boggling concepts. Also amazing what it manages with such low budget... reminded me of all the best things about reading a quality short story, or watching the kind of theatre production which reminds you of how good theatre can be. Seems divisive (just look at the extreme reviews here) but highly recommend trying it out.
Team-up of Duplass and Sterling K. Brown ignites conversations This movie was pretty well done and definitely did a good job of taking a subject matter that would be seen as sensitive to many people and making it tangible yet watchable (barely). The realism of the end-of-the-world scenario is done pretty well, and the two leads are very enjoyable. Both Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown shine, individually, and can lean on each other's performances well. The foreshadowing is done intriguingly in some parts yet leaves the viewer off with many questions in other parts. While the wrap-up is conclusive, the journey to get to it is definitely a bumpy ride. The movie is brave for tackling the subject matter of men becoming unwilling transgenders and deserves some credit. However, by leaving the ending completely open for interpretation, it sort of deliberately misses its mark. Mark Duplass has masterminded many projects in his career, and this is a good example of how interesting his projects can be. Sterling K. Brown, on the other hand, has filled roles with inspiring acting which balances fun levity, serious gravity, and sharp brevity that makes his characters always eye-catching. Overall, this was a good movie, but clearly not for everyone to enjoy the same way.
I have never reviewed a movie before, and promise myself today I will never write one again, for fear it may dilute this moment...my entire life I thought no art could be bad, because art by its nature of subjective and about personal connection with the work. This movie forced me to re-evaluate that. I guess if art crawls up its own ass far enough, it can achieve the impossible and lose every bit of value it once had from potential alone.
We watched about 30 minutes of the movie and then just fast forwarded randomly to see if the movie played out the way we expected and whether it got any better.
I love ALL movies, and this one was just horrible. Contrary to other reviews, it was 100% predictable. There was no plot, which can be fine. The character development was shallow and didn't evolve. Completely pointless movie.
Interesting premise that goes nowhere. Worse than nowhere they just keep talking and talking about the premise until the viewer either falls asleep or switches streams. There is nothing to see here.
Anything that leaves you hanging on this long with zero results should give you a divorce settlement. It was interesting in first, but then went off the rails of the fish versus man conversion.
Ideas with no execution, the directing is poor, the acting good for a stage production, maybe. Sorry, not a good movie, there is indeed nothing to watch.
LOVED this movie. I was laughing out loud during the unsexy sex scene while repeating WEIRD over and over again. This is clearly a divisive movie based on the reviews. It’s certainly an indie film which always has its detractors. What I think shines in this film is Sterling and Mark’s excellent chemistry. A lot of folks don’t like the ending, but honestly, this movie is so bizarre that having a clean and wrapped up ending would talk away from the tone of the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this!
I loved this movie. My theory is that all of the bad reviews seem to be closed-minded, homophobic people who can’t seem to appreciate the incredible totality of the film because they can’t get past their prejudices. And they cover that prejudice up saying the film was “slow”. No, it wasn’t slow - you’re just “uncomfortable”.
So much promise... but went nowhere! Yes it's a slow burn, and there are a couple of dangling carrots to keep you from switching off, but NOTHING is resolved in the movie, and the semi-interesting plot line of the two main characters just stopped dead in its tracks. And that green light? Oh come on... purely there to stop people from switching off. To just ignore that, and dilemma that faces them at the end of the movie (no spoliers), leaves a very unsatisfying feeling at the end. One to skip, not worth the investment in sitting through it.
Derivative. It had potential but needed better direction.
Not funny, not clever, and quite boring. Too much dialogue that didn't add to a plot or storyline.
A light-hearted ‘what if?' evolves (wink) into an interesting ‘what would you do if you were humanity's last hope?' Only quibble - characters are a wee bit slow initially to figure out what's happening but, hey, that's likely when all you have is time to sit & think. And boy can buddy dance!
A very unique indie sci-fi that explores some hot button topics. I can see this film being divisive. The letdown for me is the conclusion or lack of resolution.
dark, funny slow burn, brilliant casting and direction.
Biosphere was inventive and weird, touching and fun. There was enough sarcasm and fun to keep it from being corny, but it was earnest enough to resonate emotionally. That's a hard thing to accomplish. The set realistically looked like an artificial habitat, and the two leads had awesome chemistry. Solid!
Biosphere is an intermittently successful film, a film brimming with ideas but lacking execution for ultimate success. A true two hander, it's about two men living in a Biospheric dome at some point in the future. We learn that Billy was President during a global apocalypse. Ray, his childhood friend, was the only other survivor. Before the earth's destruction Ray, a scientist, built this dome especially for their survival. Their days are spent exercising and reading and often meaningless chit chat. Their food supply is mainly fish that are breeding. But when the last remaining female fish dies, they realise their future is dire to say the least. I won't spoil the big reveal but suffice to say events occur that dramatically change their outlook. A film like this really leans heavily on a solid script and great acting. And I think it falls a little short in both. The plot and dialogue lacks dynamism at various points and the acting is fine but not memorable. Sterling K. Brown is strong and robust, but Mark Duplass probably doesn't have the ultimate skill to carry a film. A worthwhile exercise of a film but falls into the 'very good but not great' category.