1. Plot Summary

Pilot Mills (Adam Driver) crash‑lands on a mysterious planet after his spacecraft is torn apart by an asteroid barrage. He discovers the only other survivor is a young girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt). As they navigate a strange and hostile world, Mills realizes it’s actually Earth—65 million years ago—brimming with prehistoric creatures. The pair must journey across rugged terrain to reach a functional escape shuttle before another catastrophic asteroid strikes.

2. Notable Elements

• High‑concept premise: A mash‑up of sci-fi survival thriller and dinosaur adventure, drawing comparisons to Jurassic Park and Alien

• Chemistry between leads: Driver and Greenblatt deliver grounded rapport—his weary protector meets her curious bravery—especially during tense monster encounters

• Creature design & VFX: Prehistoric beasts blend CG and practical effects to create suspenseful action—and even earned Oscar buzz for visual effects .

• Pacing & cinematography: Tightly packed at 93 minutes, the film intensively shifts from quiet tension to explosive action, showcasing forested landscapes and waterfall escapes .

3. Themes & Messages

• Survival & guardianship: Mills’s journey with Koa explores themes of responsibility, sacrifice, and sudden parenthood.

• Isolation & connection: A lone adult and a child stranded in a foreign, prehistoric world speak to discovering empathy and forming emotional bonds under duress.

• Time & mortality: Stranded millions of years from home, Mills confronts time itself—mirroring the urgency of an impending asteroid impact echoing through millennia.

4. Personal Impressions

👍 Strengths:

• A refreshing departure from CGI-heavy dinosaur flicks, delivering visceral creature battles and emotional beats.

• Driver’s understated performance avoids melodrama, lending authenticity to his protective burden.

👎 Weaknesses:

• The romantic subplot with his daughter back home feels underexplored and too brief—lacking emotional payoff.

• Some viewers found the storytelling predictable, with pacing dips between action pulses

5. Audience Recommendations

65 is ideal for:

• Fans of dangerous adventure stories that center on human connection (The Last of Us, A Quiet Place).

• Viewers craving dinosaur thrill combined with heartfelt protector-and-child dynamics.

• Moviegoers who enjoy high stakes packed into a concise, edge-of-seat runtime.

6. Conclusion & Rating

65 takes a bold sci-fi twist—helming a time-travel premise straight into dinosaur territory—and pairs it with a surprisingly touching emotional core. Though some narrative elements stumble, the high-adrenaline action, strong performances, and inventive storytelling elevate the experience.

Final Verdict: A tense, caring, creature feature that hits its mark—especially for sci-fi and dinosaur lovers.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐☆ (4/5)