Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass Are Perfection in Biosphere

When calculating what to screen at TIFF, the list is often intense leaving little to no room for surprises or additions to a carefully crafted schedule.  Having said that, TIFF 2022 was full of surprises including a digital ticketing system and surprise film screenings like Biosphere.

Mel Eslyn’s Biosphere was added to the Special Presentations category with a one-liner description, “…In the not-too-distant future, the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity.” Well now, when I discovered that Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass are the last two men on earth and Mel Eslyn  was in the director chair, baby wild horses couldn’t keep me away from this one.

Biosphere is funny, poignant, thought provoking and the bromance you didn’t you needed. The Duplass brothers are notorious for films and jokes regarding a certain male part of the anatomy that range from crass to comical beyond belief.  While laughed my buns off, I was impressed and entertained by sides of these men not yet seen on screen.  I embraced and savored every single moment like a fine aged wine waiting to have the bottle popped open.

The screenplay quite cleverly illustrates what our eco-system could look like after millions of years of abusing our planet while being relegated to a sphere and what that does to one’s spirit, psyche and physicality.

Without spoiling this one for you, I can say that Biosphere will explore possibilities scientists have contemplated for centuries regarding our atmosphere and biology with a biting, quick wit keeping audiences engaged from the first frame to the last.

Duplass and Brown are basically giving a two-person tour-de-force performance that I could easily see translated to the Broadway stage and beyond, while exploring a post-apocalyptic world lurking in the not so distant future.