When the world is on the brink of destruction, what really matters?
We’ve always been fascinated with post-apocalyptic fiction and how it contemplates the end of civilization. The fascination, and perhaps comfort, of those stories was in their distance. Life as we knew it was stable, so why not venture into imaginations inhabited by zombies, nuclear devastation, and barely-functioning communities? That sense of remove has all but vanished, as anxieties about the state of the planet and society have us all collectively on edge. And so, the function of post-apocalyptic art has evolved. Rather than explore the ruins of a collapsed world, today’s stories determine whether it worked in the first place.
In Biosphere, Billy (Mark Duplass) and Ray (Sterling K. Brown) are the last two men on Earth after an unnamed catastrophe wiped humanity off the map and left it uninhabitable. Their survival depends on Ray’s designed domed structure and a fish pond as a food source. They settle into something resembling normalcy until one of their fish dies, leaving the lifelong best friends scrambling to keep themselves alive. They do that through an audacious blend of science, magic, and ingenuity that one can’t explain in words. It has to be seen to be believed (at the filmmakers’ request, to note).
Survival is only one touchpoint in Biosphere’s ambitious scope. The film’s most compelling and acutely relevant theme is gender. The dramedy examines gender as a social construct and how social pressures burrow it deep into the human psyche. By way of its post-apocalyptic setting, it also ponders its significance, primarily when the structures that enforce it no longer exist.
Mel Eslyn, film producer and long-time Mark and Jay Duplass collaborator, envisioned her directorial debut encompassing themes like magic, science, and politics. She found clarifying inspiration in exploring gender.
“It felt right, telling this story about two men dealing with their own toxic masculinity,” Eslyn said in an interview with Geek Vibes Nation. “I loved the idea of a female voice being the driving storyteller there.”
Eslyn’s identity as a cisgender, queer woman significantly shaped Biosphere’s themes and two central characters. “I carry a lot of what I would define as masculinity in myself. I felt I had a unique voice to put to [Billy & Ray] and see if I could push their boundaries a bit.”
Billy and Ray reconsider their boundaries as their lives in the biosphere become increasingly complex and harder to define. They come to find, Eslyn explains, that there might be a disconnect between what they each feel inside and what society has outlined as normal and correct. The reality that society as they knew it was over amplified that disconnect.
“There’s an internal navigation of what you feel and then the outside world telling you what’s masculine and feminine,” Eslyn said about Billy and Ray’s journey. “How do these characters, who are very different from me, deal with what might be rolling inside that they’ve never explored within a situation where they have nowhere to go? They’re being forced to examine those themes now.”
Understanding that Billy and Ray were flawed characters that audiences might struggle to connect with, Eslyn leaned on comedy elements to humanize them. She described her approach to humor as a “14-year-old going through puberty,” filtered through the experience of growing up in the 80s and 90s. That era, she notes, is defined by comedy that often lacked the sensitivity audiences now value. Biosphere was Eslyn’s opportunity to respond to that type of comedy while evolving it into a modern context.
“I wanted to explore what used to make people laugh through today’s lens, where we realize how insensitive those things were,” Eslyn explained. “I wanted to push people to laugh in one moment, and then be shocked, gutted, or embarrassed, and then examine those pathways.”
Eslyn achieved that delicate balance between Biosphere’s sophisticated themes and accessible humor with the support of Duplass, who co-wrote the film. The pair have worked together for 13 years as part of Seattle’s independent film community, with Eslyn producing 2014’s The One I Love, starring Duplass and Elisabeth Moss. Her work on that film and 2015’s Lamb won her the Piaget Producers Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2017, she became president of Duplass Brothers Productions.
“Biosphere was able to tackle so many themes and layers because Mark and I have such a history. I’ve made more films with Mark than anybody. There’s such a level of trust and a shorthand. It felt very natural directing him and writing with him, and it was great for Sterling to come in and say, ‘Oh, I’m walking into this family, and there’s safety here.’ He became our new brother.”
Safety is central to Biosphere. Billy and Ray work daily to fortify their little pocket of the world against outside destructive forces. When they aren’t trying to survive, they find safety in their friendship, as it evolves into something that defies explanation. Eslyn hopes audiences can find their own safety in the film as it asks them to re-evaluate their thoughts and feelings about gender and sexuality, especially in this fraught, divisive moment.
“I think it’s scary for many people in our society to push definitions and go outside of boundaries,” Eslyn said. “My hope for Biosphere is that people have an eye-opening experience and find a little more comfortability in exploring what’s inside themselves and how they define themselves.”
Eslyn acknowledges there is some wish fulfillment in wanting to roll back generations-spanning social constructs and start over. It’s a daunting consideration against increasingly hostile actions against gender nonconforming people. Biosphere, however, exists in a world where those social constructs are vestiges in its two characters’ minds. As deeply ingrained as they may be, do they matter at the end of the world? And if they don’t, do they matter in the first place?
It’s as heavy a question as any other raised in Biosphere. And yet, Eslyn offers a simple yet profound response. It directly applies to Billy and Ray’s journey but hopefully reaches the audience.
“You’re the only truth.”
Biosphere will debut in select theaters and on VOD platforms on July 7, 2023 courtesy of IFC Films.
A late-stage millennial lover of most things related to pop culture. Becomes irrationally irritated by Oscar predictions that don’t come true.