Pjtaylor-96-138044 Review of Biosphere

Biosphere (2022)

This chamber piece soon evolves into something genuinely unexpected.

[7/10 · 17 October 2023]

'Biosphere (2022)' starts out simply enough, focusing on a pair of men living in a self-sustaining structure while the rest of the world is seemingly dead. Soon, though, this two-man chamber piece evolves into something genuinely unexpected. The best way to experience it really is to know nothing further about it than its initial logline; I guarantee you that you won't know where it's going at least until it drops its first major hint towards its eventual direction. Not only is its plot surprising (at least when it comes to its, I suppose, inciting incident and the themes this causes it to focus on), it's actually really interesting. It's not good just because it's unexpected, as it's a distinct and - in some ways - challenging picture that takes its premise and gently develops it in some really considered ways. Unfortunately, once it begins to head down its ultimate path, there's only really so many places for it to go and its conclusion feels kind of inevitable (at least when it comes to its most major aspect). On the plus side, this doesn't dampen the feature's success. Although it's perhaps a little too long considering the limitations of its concept, this single-location drama is consistently engaging and strikes a good balance between humour and sincerity. Held aloft by two compelling performances from Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass (Brown, in particular, acts his ass off here, even though he doesn't really need to; he's genuinely great in the role and adds a lot of weight to even the movie's silliest moments), the flick moves forwards at a decent pace and alternates between comedy and drama as confidently as you could imagine. There are a couple of lulls here and there, but mostly this is entertaining and enjoyable for its duration. Sadly, its ending is extremely underwhelming. Despite some potentially intriguing ambiguity, the climax sort of just fizzles out without actually resolving all that much and it definitely dampens the overall experience. Still, this is an absurd yet sincere picture that's as fun as it is thought-provoking. It's a really solid effort.