One of my favorite indie films of the last decade is the romantic dramedy The One I Love, directed by Charlie McDowell and produced by Mel Eslyn. Starring Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss as a couple falling out of love, the simplicity of the storyline is sprinkled with absurd moments throughout and ends with a jolt of frenetic energy from a twist in the final scene. For all of the WTF moments though, it stays grounded in reality, leading us to believe that this situation could happen to any one of us watching. This is a nearly impossible tone to achieve in an indie film, and the filmmakers made it look easy. It’s no surprise that I had high expectations going into Eslyn’s directorial debut, Biosphere–would this be my new cult favorite? The short answer: no.

In Biosphere, Eslyn (a lauded producer and President of Duplass Brothers Productions) returns to familiar territory with another unconventional “love” story about choice and reckless abandon. Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown are the only two actors in this incredibly intimate story about survival. Billy (Duplass), former President of the United States, and his childhood best friend Ray (Brown) are the last two men to escape from a doomed Earth (its demise unknown). They are a number of days into their isolation in a handmade personal biosphere, constructed by Ray who happens to be an incredibly gifted scientist. The biosphere was built to sustain life in perpetuity; the hydroponic garden and fish pond provided vegetables and protein, the scholarly books intended to stay sharp, and the video games were selected for fun.

Their daily routine is the same, with no cause for concern, until the last remaining female fish dies. With only two male fish left in the tank with no way to procreate, Billy and Ray begin to accept that the end is near. Starvation is inevitable. However, one of the male fish goes through an unbelievable transformation overnight, giving a glimmer of hope that survival is still possible. Life finds a way, as adaptation and evolution have proved over time. Billy and Ray are about to learn firsthand just how far the human body will go in order to survive.

Biosphere can be best described as a sci-fi buddy dark comedy. The performances from Duplass and Brown are equally balanced, their dynamic easily carries the film for its entire 1h 46m runtime. They both play into each other’s comedic strengths without feeling like Dumb and Dumber. The plot, on the other hand, is out of this world, too bizarre to have any lingering feelings of “could this happen to me?” that The One I Love so expertly crafted. The problem here is the lack of an emotional hook. As a female viewer (a clarifying factor that makes more sense after you’ve seen the film), I felt like the script had more misses than hits when relating to the female experience and bodily functions. While funny at first, the evolution began to feel tired and drab. Perhaps cutting 20 minutes or so could have freshened up this already claustrophobic dramedy.

While Biosphere fell short of my expectations, the film is still an enjoyable watch for its inclusion of themes like gender, sexuality, love, and the human capacity to change and evolve. For a two-person, single-setting film, it is an impressive accomplishment. Award-winning film composers Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans create a moody and tense atmosphere with a primarily vocal score, using hums with the utmost suspense. I may not have connected with Biosphere, but I applaud the unique vision and can’t wait to see what director Mel Eslyn does next.

Distributed by IFC Films. In select theaters this Friday, July 7th.