"Biosphere" dares to actually subvert the "bromance" sub-genre

Biosphere (2023)

It’s already a joke that “Biosphere” will ostensibly be confused with the brain-dead 1996 slacker comedy “Bio-Dome” (which starred one of cinema’s finest comedic duos, Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin). This is not that, but more of the Honors Student version of that premise. To wit: “Biosphere” is a rather smart, more thoughtful and humane single-location two-hander, a dude hangout dramedy through the prism of a post-apocalyptic scenario.

Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown play best buds Billy and Ray, the last men on Earth. Billy was President of the United States and Ray, a brilliant biochemist, was his Chief Advisor. Now, they’re the two only human inhabitants of a sustainable biome Ray has built to keep them safe from the apocalyptic circumstances outside. It’s like a man cave, filled with books, a copy of “Lethal Weapon 2,” and Super Mario Bros. video games, but without much privacy. Their major protein source comes from a fishpond. But when their one and only female (“Diane”) goes belly up (“Sam” and “Woody” survive), Billy and Ray worry they aren’t going to make it. Just as all hope is lost, there’s the discovery of accelerated evolution, and well, as Billy quotes “Jurassic Park,” maybe life will find a way. 

Director Mel Eslyn, a longtime indie film producer (and president of Duplass Brothers Productions), makes her directorial debut with this script she co-wrote with co-lead Mark Duplass. It may not completely stick the landing after so many life-changing decisions have been made, but “Biosphere” explores the straight intimacy of male friendship in ways that are absurd yet sensitive and truly subvert the “bromance” comedy sub-genre. Without a woman in sight or anyone else around, the film is built around two buddies. We meet Billy and Ray when they’ve already settled into their routine, jogging around the dome and arguing like siblings about Mario and Luigi. How they relate to each other keeps changing over the course of the film as a test of masculinity and gender. Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com.

Grade: B -

IFC Films is releasing “Biosphere” (107 min.) in select theaters on July 7, 2023.