The tortured male scientist is a character that popular culture revisits endlessly, from Victor Frankenstein to Gregory House to Tony Stark. Burdened by greatness and destined for misanthropy, he will do whatever he must to realize his genius. He is often an addict, often attracts women who he should, in reality, repel. All of these conventions are at work in the sci-fi indie thriller “Minor Premise,” and yet director Eric Schultz has created a film inventive and engaging enough to stay afloat in a sea of tropes.