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81% of protestant churchgoers identify christian movies as powerful evangelical tools: survey.

An overwhelming majority of Protestants view Christian movies as effective evangelism tools even as most churchgoers remain hesitant about sharing such films with their non-Christian friends, a new survey reveals. 

Lifeway Research released a new report Tuesday based on responses from 1,008 American Protestant churchgoers collected in September 2023. The latest survey documents churchgoers’ views on Christian movies and books. 

When asked if they viewed Christian movies as effective evangelism tools, 81% of respondents answered in the affirmative. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed said they “strongly agree” that Christian movies make effective evangelism tools, while 48% said they “somewhat agree.” Ten percent told pollsters they “somewhat disagree,” while 2% “strongly disagree” that Christian movies constitute effective ways to spread the Gospel. 

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A large majority of those surveyed (72%) said they intentionally watched movies with Christian messages, with 30% strongly agreeing that they sought out such content and 42% somewhat agreeing. Seventeen percent somewhat disagreed that they looked for movies with Christian messages, while just 7% strongly disagreed. 

Overall, 68% of respondents reported watching a Christian movie in the past year, while 48% said they had watched a secular movie. Less common activities among Protestant churchgoers in the past year include the discussion of Christian themes found in secular movies with fellow Christians (30%), the discussion of Christian themes found in secular movies with non-Christians (21%), and inviting a non-Christian to watch Christian movies with them (12%).

Thirteen percent of respondents did not participate in any of the aforementioned activities.

Broken down by denomination, non-denominational Christians (60%) were most likely to have watched a secular movie in the past year, followed by Presbyterians (57%), Baptists (44%), Lutherans (41%) and members of the Church of Christ (37%). At the same time, non-denominational Christians (77%) were also the most likely to have watched a Christian movie in the past year, followed by Baptists (70%), Lutherans (53%) and Presbyterians (49%). 

Fifteen percent of non-denominational Christians, 14% of Baptists, 14% of members of the Church of Christ, 3% of Lutherans and 3% of Presbyterians invited a non-Christian to watch a Christian movie with them. Twenty-eight percent of non-denominational Christians, 22% of Baptists, 12% of Lutherans and 10% of Presbyterians said they discussed Christian themes in secular movies with a non-Christian. 

Baptists and non-denominational Christians were the most likely to have intentionally watched Christian movies in the past year, with 78% of respondents belonging to each denomination saying that they did so. Majorities of Methodists (59%), members of the Church of Christ (58%), Lutherans (57%) and Presbyterians (55%) also reported deliberately seeking out Christian movies. 

Even larger shares of both Baptists and non-denominational Christians (84%) viewed Christian movies as effective evangelism tools, along with large majorities of Lutherans (75%) and Presbyterians (68%).  

“It can be easy for Christian resource providers to design resources they hope are helpful, but Christian movies are something churchgoers want to see,” said Lifeway Research CEO Scott McConnell in a statement reacting to the report. “They don’t assume every Christian movie is a fit for non-Christians they know, but they agree films can be an effective way to share the gospel.”

McConnell explained that “Our intention in asking churchgoers if they watch secular movies was to contrast viewership of movies that are not overtly Christian themed,” adding “it’s clear some churchgoers may not have been familiar with this use of the term ‘secular’ and others may have thought it was seeking to contrast movies that are overtly anti-Christian.”

Noted Christian film producer Stephen Kendrick maintained that “Movies can be great tools to reach people where they are and share biblical truth in the context of an emotional and memorial story.” According to Kendrick, “Countless people have come to Christ through watching a Christian movie. The Holy Spirit continues to use art to point to the glory of Christ and the gospel.”

When it comes to Christian books, 65% of those surveyed said that they read at least one in the past year. Three percent reported reading ten or more, 1% read either eight or nine, 3% read either six or seven, 11% read four or five, 13% read three and 17% apiece read two books and one Christian book.

Thirty-one percent of respondents did not read any Christian books in the past year. Half of Lutherans (50%) did not read any Christian books in the past year, along with 34% of Presbyterians, 26% of Baptists and 25% of non-denominational Christians. 

Kendrick actively encouraged Christians to “dive into a resource that will help them be transformed by the renewing of the minds” after “the emotion of a movie ends.” He offered specific examples of how Christian books can help people build on what they learned from Christian movies: “We praise God that countless marriages were saved through the combination of the movie ‘Fireproof’ and the follow up book ‘The Love Dare.’ The movie ‘Courageous’ inspired men to read ‘The Resolution for Men.’” 

“Countless prayer ministries have been blessed by the movie ‘War Room’ and the follow-up resource, ‘The Battleplan for Prayer,’” Kendrick added. 

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]

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Reviewed by: Shawna Ellis CONTRIBUTOR

Are the millions and billions of years promoted by Evolutionists real? Answers

Top choice for accurate, in-depth information on Creation/Evolution. The SuperLibrary is provided by a top team of experts from various respected creationist organizations who answer your questions on a wide variety of topics. Multilingual.

Visit our dinosaur-size Web site where you’ll discover a mountain of knowledge and amazing discoveries. How do dinosaurs fit into the Bible? You’ll find the answer to this and many more of your questions. Play games, browse and learn. Includes many helps for teachers and parents.

DINOSAUR ORIGIN —Where did the dinosaurs come from? Answer

Are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?

WHY did God create dinosaurs? Answer

LIVING WITH DINOSAURS —What would it have been like to live with dinosaurs? Answer

NOAH’S ARK—Did Noah take dinosaurs on the Ark? Answer

DINOSAURS AFTER THE FLOOD —Following the Flood, what happened to dinosaurs? Answer

Is there a connection between dragon legends and dinosaurs ?

FEAR, Anxiety and Worry —What does the Bible say? Answer

Bravery, courage, self-sacrifice to protect others

SUICIDE —What does the Bible say? Answer

If a true Christian commits suicide, will they go to Heaven? Answer

C hildren and adults alike are fascinated by dinosaurs . The thought that this world was once inhabited by terrifying beasts arouses the imagination. People have shown their love for the dinosaur movie genera by flocking to the various “ Jurassic Park ” and “ Jurassic World ” films, anxious to see depictions of dinosaurs and humans together. With the public’s love for dinosaur action, I was surprised to find only a handful of other moviegoers in the theater on the opening night of “65.” It seems to have all the right elements for a successful dino film… a big-name star in Adam Driver , the interesting premise of a space traveler crashing on a world in which dinosaurs roam, a script by the writers of the very successful “ A Quiet Place ,” and lots of visually stunning action. But even with all these positives, “65” just seems to fall a little flat.

The premise of the film is a little confusing, as we are told that it is set “before the advent of man,” yet we have seemingly human characters from other worlds with advanced technology exploring the cosmos. One of these explorers is Mills ( Adam Driver ), a pilot about to leave his wife and daughter for a two year mission. Mills is hesitant to go but feels that he must for financial reasons surrounding his daughter’s illness. As she struggles with being the cause of his leaving, he lovingly tells her, “I’m not going because of you. I’m going for you.” The devotion that Mills has for his family is refreshing.

However, the two year mission becomes instead a fight for survival on an uncharted planet populated by fearsome creatures and huge insects. Even the environment of the planet itself is deadly, with a landscape in tumultuous upheaval brimming with threats at every turn. Can Mills and another survivor escape the deadly unknown planet before it is too late?

The movie feels like a rather slow race against time. The continual peril in which the characters find themselves is exhausting to watch. While there is some exciting action, it becomes a repetitive over time. Lead actors Adam Driver and young Ariana Greenblatt do their best with incredibly limited dialog and a relatively short runtime (93 minutes). While there is very little objectionable in the film (other than violent peril, some language and Evolutionism), there is also very little that I found to be truly memorable. A few scenes play out dramatically, but it is hard to become immersed in the characters and their motivations when they are in such continual unabated peril.

A major theme of the film is the age of Earth . This movie promotes the Evolutionary worldview that Earth is many billions of years old. This view does not hold up against a literal reading of the Bible, but I will not attempt to disseminate that here when there are already many fine articles to be found on this very foundational topic. Also, the film proposes that there is not just life on other planets but that the life found there seems to be human. Does life exist elsewhere? Again, these articles will better answer that question than I could in this brief review. Besides these problematic topics, the movie does have some other content of concern.

What does the Bible say about intelligent life on other planets ?

Are we alone in the universe ?

Does Scripture refer to life in space ?

Questions and answers about the origin of LIFE

VIOLENCE: Characters are in constant peril of attacks by frightening creatures, hazards from the environment and more. Wounds are seen, sometimes in close detail. Dead bodies are shown. A character contemplates suicide . Someone foams at the mouth and vomits in a disturbing sequence. Various creatures are shot, beaten, and burned. There are frequent jump scares. Characters are sometimes trapped with no way to escape. Children in my viewing audience cried in fear at some scenes, especially when the young girl Koa was in danger.

FILM VIOLENCE —How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer

LANGUAGE: There are several uses of “sh*t,” sometimes from the mouth of a child. “ Damn ” is used once.

SEXUALITY: A married couple embraces briefly. There is no nudity, and this movie is refreshingly free of any sexual references or innuendo.

OTHER: The worldview of other civilizations existing before humans were on earth is not Biblical. The concept of Earth existing for millions of years is a premise of the film.

Although I did not find “65” to be very memorable, it has a Biblically sound theme about doing whatever one can to protect those who are in danger. In this way it hit some of the same notes as “ A Quiet Place ,” an earlier work by the same writers. But where I found “A Quiet Place” to be an excellent film more about the family than the monsters, “65” seems like a vessel for just showing monstrous action with some attempt at drama added. I appreciate the effort, and I give it more value than the often crass and ridiculous latter films in the “ Jurassic World ” franchise, but it felt a little bit one-note.

The worldview concerns surrounding extraterrestrial life and millions of years of Evolution make me hesitate to recommend “65” to audiences who may be confused or misled. With these concerns as well as the constant violence and terror, it is certainly not for young children despite having a child as one of the lead characters.

• Violence: Very Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Moderate— • S-words (3)
• Profane language: Mild— • D*mn
• Nudity: None
• Drugs/Alcohol: None
• Occult: None
• Wokeism: None

Editor’s comment

Followers of Christ should alert about this film’s promotion of ANCIENT ALIENS or ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS theory, because this is an issue that is truly deceiving a very great number of people, partly because it is presented as scientific and archaeological (both false claims). At its base, it is a lie being used by godless people to “scientifically” explain away Biblical miracles and events—and God Himself.

This tactic started with atheist author H.P. Lovecraft. Years later, this pseudo-scientific idea was famously promoted by Erich von Däniken ( Chariots of the Gods ) and others. The Director of this film was inspired by von Däniken, and says so. This idea has particularly been used by some whose worldviews are New Age or Evolutionism/Atheism (or both).

The claim is that extraterrestrials with advanced technology came to Earth in ancient times and were mistaken for gods, angels and supernatural activity—and that out of these encounters with naive and unsophisticated humans (who misunderstood what they witnessed), humans began to worship these aliens—and the world’s religions (including Christianity) are the end result.

I have researched these claims in considerable depth, including attending von Däniken lectures. I am in agreement with many other researchers, the so-called evidence for this fantasy is filled with foolish errors and serious outright lies and deceptions.

Nonetheless, many sci-fi books, movies and TV shows have eagerly used and promoted what is essentially a dangerous Atheist-inspired worldview.

What difference does it make? When accepted, this pseudo-science leads people directly away from Biblical truth about Earth’s Creation , mankind’s place in God’s plan, Earth’s history of wicked rebellion against the Creator, and the record of His judgments . Inherent in this worldview is rejection of belief in God and the Bible. People are less likely to perceive their spiritually bankrupt state before God and are more unlikely to want—or listen to—the Gospel .

Entertainment dramas that use the ancient extraterrestrial encounters fantasy and thus promote it some extent…

• “ Stargate ” (2001)
• “ Prometheus ” (2012)
• “ Knowing ” (2009)
• “ Thor ” (2011)
• “ The X-Files: Fight the Future ” (1998), etc.
• “ Alien vs. Predator ” (2004)
• Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), and most of the “Transformers” series
• “ Outlander ” (2008)
• “ The Fifth Element ” (1997)
• “ Mission To Mars ” (2000)
• “Star Trek” various episodes, including “Star Trek: The Next Generation—The Chase,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation—Who Watches the Watchers” —Gene Roddenberry, creator of “Star Trek” was an opponent of all beliefs in God
• “2001: A Space Odyssey”—the monolith
• “Earth: Final Conflict”
• “Space: 1999”
• “Quatermass and the Pit”
• …and many more

If nothing else, the mere CONSTANT REPETITION of this view of history in entertainment media is causing it to become embedded in the minds of billions of people, making it somehow seem to them less ludicrous than it really is. Discerning Christians know that we and God have an Enemy who is the father of lies who seeks to deceive the whole world.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

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Common Sense Media Review

Violent, by-the-numbers sci-fi/dinosaur movie has gory bits.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that 65 is a sci-fi/dinosaur movie about a space traveler named Mills (Adam Driver) who crash-lands on primitive Earth and must battle dinosaurs to save his one surviving passenger, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt). Expect intense violence: Characters die (their bodies are shown), there's…

Why Age 14+?

Many are said to have died in cryosleep during crash-landing. Dead bodies lie in

A few uses of "s--t." One use of "damn." A use of "oh God" while in pain.

Any Positive Content?

Both characters are strong and resourceful; they take turns helping each other o

Four characters: Mills (Adam Driver), a White man, is the central character. You

Encourages selflessness: One character considers giving up until he discovers th

Violence & Scariness

Many are said to have died in cryosleep during crash-landing. Dead bodies lie in a swamp. Girl in peril. Main character shoots laser-like space gun. Splattering dinosaur blood. Explosions. Main character pulls metal shard out of bloody wound. Character attacked by small dinosaur; he bashes it to death with gun butt. Main character falls out of tree; painfully snapping dislocated shoulder back into place. Dinosaur stabbed with pointed tusk. Quicksand. Dinosaur corpse covered in blood and maggots. Burned, gory dinosaur corpse. Red-tinted water sloshing on ship. Fiery crash-landing. Dinosaurs attack and eat one another. Asteroids colliding with ship. Main character briefly considers death by suicide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

Both characters are strong and resourceful; they take turns helping each other out of scrapes, working to overcome difficult odds.

Diverse Representations

Four characters: Mills (Adam Driver), a White man, is the central character. Young Koa is played by Ariana Greenblatt, who is of Puerto Rican heritage. Mills' wife (seen in prologue), played by Nika King, is Black. Their mixed-race daughter, Nevine, is played by Chloe Coleman, who is of African, Eastern European, and English descent. Mills' insistence on Koa learning English -- rather than trying to understand her language -- supports dominant power structures.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Messages

Encourages selflessness: One character considers giving up until he discovers that there's another person to think about.

Parents need to know that 65 is a sci-fi/dinosaur movie about a space traveler named Mills ( Adam Driver ) who crash-lands on primitive Earth and must battle dinosaurs to save his one surviving passenger, Koa ( Ariana Greenblatt ). Expect intense violence: Characters die (their bodies are shown), there's splattering dinosaur blood/gore, and Mills pulls a shard of metal out of his own bloody wound. Mills also shoots a space-laser gun at dinosaurs and bashes a small dinosaur to death with the butt of his gun. There are also explosions and falls from high places, and a character briefly considers death by suicide. A girl is sometimes in peril. Language includes a few uses of "s--t," plus "damn" and "oh God." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (7)
• Kids say (10)

Based on 7 parent reviews

Dinosaurs look awesome

Decent popcorn flick but huge missed opportunity, what's the story.

In 65, astronaut Mills ( Adam Driver ), from the planet Somaris, agrees to a two-year trip through space, since the increased pay will help cover his daughter's medical expenses. Unfortunately, while he's in cryosleep, the ship is pelted with asteroids and forced to make a crash landing. Only Mills and young Koa ( Ariana Greenblatt ) survive. But somehow, they've ended up on Earth, 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs roamed. Now they must hike 15 kilometers across a deadly landscape to find the only remaining escape pod. And there's another problem: The asteroid that hit their ship was only a small one.

Is It Any Good?

While this sci-fi/dinosaur movie is competently made, it really only has one good idea, and it doesn't do much with it. The rest is generic and familiar and fails to generate much suspense or emotion. The first thing viewers must accept in 65 is that there's another planet that has inhabitants who speak English and act just like Earth humans. After the crash, we get all the usual CGI dinosaur attacks and jump scares -- all very similar to what we've seen before in the many Jurassic Park / World movies. The screenplay -- following a beat-by-beat, three-act formula -- sets up all the elements it's going to use during the final payoff, and it's all noticeable because there's not much else to think about. But perhaps the oddest touch in this movie is the decision to have Koa speak a different language (she's from a different "district" than Mills). This leads to many scenes of Mills trying to force Koa to learn English words -- which she gamely does -- rather than him trying to understand what she's saying. It's all a bit of a drag, like Land of the Lost with the fun taken out. Ultimately, 65 leaves us feeling dino-sore.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about 65 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

How does the movie handle the difference in the languages that the characters speak? How does the language barrier affect the story?

How does the movie deal with grief?

Movie Details

• In theaters : March 10, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : May 2, 2023
• Cast : Adam Driver , Ariana Greenblatt , Chloe Coleman
• Directors : Scott Beck , Bryan Woods
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studios : Sony Pictures , Columbia Pictures
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Dinosaurs
• Run time : 93 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sci-fi action and peril, and brief bloody images
• Last updated : June 18, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

You’d think a movie in which Adam Driver fights a bunch of dinosaurs couldn’t possibly be boring, but that’s exactly what “65” is.

This is a movie that would have benefitted from being a whole lot stupider. The big-budget sci-fi flick—which reportedly cost $91 million to make and was featured in a Super Bowl ad—should have embraced its inherent B-movie roots. Instead, it tries to juggle a wild survival story with a poignant family drama, but both elements feel so rushed and underdeveloped that neither ends up registering. There’s nothing to these characters, and the action sequences quickly grow repetitive and wearisome. There’s a jump scare, insistent notes from an overbearing score, some running and screaming, the gnashing of teeth, and maybe an injury before a narrow escape. Over and over and over again.

But the film from the writing-directing team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods , whose credits include co-writing “ A Quiet Place ” with John Krasinski , offers an intriguingly contradictory premise. It takes place 65 million years ago, but suggests that futuristic civilizations existed back then on planets throughout the universe. On one of them, Driver stars as a space pilot named Mills. He’s about to embark on a two-year exploratory mission in order to afford medical treatment for his ailing daughter ( Chloe Coleman from “ My Spy ,” who’s featured in the film’s prelude and sporadic video snippets).

On the way to his destination, the ship Mills is flying enters an unexpected asteroid field, gets torn to shreds, and crashes. All of the passengers in cryogenic sleep are killed—except one, who just happens to be a girl around the same age as his daughter. Her name is Koa, and she’s played by Ariana Greenblatt . And the planet, which has swampy terrain reminiscent of Dagobah, just happens to be—wait for it—Earth.

“65” requires Mills and Koa to schlep from the wreckage to a mountaintop so they can commandeer the escape pod that’s perched there and fly out before dinosaurs can stomp and chomp on them. The creatures can be startling at times, but at other times they look so cheesy and fake, they’re like the animatronics you’d see at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. And yet! It almost would have been better—or at least more entertaining—if “65” had leaned harder into that silliness if it had played with the basic ridiculousness of mixing complex technology with the Cretaceous period. They rarely use Mills’ advanced gadgets in any inspired ways within this prehistoric setting. The few attempts at humor fall flat—they mainly consist of Koa making fun of Mills for being uptight—and moments of peril wrap up too tidily for us to luxuriate in their anxiety. 

Worst of all, Driver doesn’t get to ham it up nearly enough here. He’s an actor of great intensity, which can be both thrilling and amusing if he’s amping it up in a knowing way. Imagine him screaming “More!!!” as he’s blasting Luke Skywalker in “ Star Wars: The Last Jedi ,” or punching a wall during an argument in “ Marriage Story .” But the man he plays in “65” is blandly heroic and just seems generally annoyed. Greenblatt, meanwhile, does the best she can with a character we know absolutely nothing about. Koa speaks a language that’s not English, so most of her exchanges with Mills consist of mimicking the basic words he says to her, including “family.” There’s no real bond between them, but neither is there any sort of prickly tension since they’re stuck with each other. “The Last of Us,” this is not.

Beck and Woods offer some clever camerawork here and there, but also some erratic editing choices. And they borrow quite a bit from the “ Jurassic Park ” franchise: a giant footprint in the mud or a dinosaur’s yellow eye leering menacingly through a window. But maybe that’s inevitable at this point. Their film only gets truly enjoyably nutty toward the end, with its climactic combination of a sneaky quicksand patch, a ravenous Tyrannosaurus rex, a well-timed geyser eruption, and a catastrophic asteroid shower. But by then, it’s too late for us—and the planet.

Now in theaters. 

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series “Ebert Presents At the Movies” opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

• Adam Driver as Mills
• Ariana Greenblatt as Koa
• Chloe Coleman as Nevine
• Nika King as Alya
• Bryan Woods
• Chris Bacon

Cinematographer

• Salvatore Totino

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65 (Christian Movie Review)

Verdict: A brisk, competent thriller that provides diverting entertainment and thrills but is never as enjoyable as a movie about Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs should be.    

About The Movie

In an era of mammoth movie lengths, endless sequels, expansive worldbuilding, and cross-media storytelling, there is something undeniably charming about a film like 65. The movie promises Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs and gives audiences precisely that, nothing less and nothing more. It’s the type of film Hollywood needs, but it probably won’t inspire more.  

With a brisk 1:30 runtime, the film doesn’t waste much time with table setting. Instead, it gets right to the meat. A brief opening scene provides a vague introduction to Adam Driver’s character and the setting. He’s a man named Mills from a distant planet who must embark on an exploratory space journey to earn enough money to buy treatment for his sick daughter. What’s her illness? What’s the objective of the expedition? How does this civilization from another planet factor into Earth’s history? The movie isn’t interested in answering these questions. By the second scene, the spacecraft is crashlanding on Earth and then…dinosaurs! Run!

I’m the target audience for this film. This type of survival thriller/creature movie lands right in my sweet spot. That the script was created by the writers of A Quiet Place , one of my favorite recent movies, added to my optimism. And while I ultimately enjoyed this film (perhaps more than most), 65 sometimes feels like the first draft of a much better movie.

The film has a lot of promising elements. Adam Driver is great because, let’s face it, Adam Driver is always great. The writers also wisely resist the temptation to add needless complexity to the simple story. The relationship between Driver’s character and a young girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), the only other known survivor of the crash, is compelling, especially due to a language barrier between them. The dinosaurs are also interesting. Despite being CGI creations, they have a throwback, almost stop-motion-esque appearance that fits the B-movie vibe. All these elements are primed for a solid story, but the movie fails to make the most of them.

The main problem with 65 is that it’s just not as much fun as a movie about Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs should be. There’s action and some exciting moments, but the film never manages to maintain hold-your-breath tension. The movie should inspire audiences to better appreciate the creative genius of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park . In 65 , the story is more action than thriller, and characters shooting a pack of charging dinosaurs with a high-power space-gun just isn’t as thrilling as characters being hunted by them. Rather than escalating tension and a looming threat, dinosaurs seem to appear whenever an action scene is needed.

In the end, 65 is not a bad movie; it’s just not a particularly good one. As a simple thriller about Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs, it works well. There’s high enough emotional stakes to prevent it from feeling mindless, but not too much backstory and human drama to get bogged down and overstay its welcome. Audiences expecting clever and captivating storytelling will not find much to sink their teeth into, but those with a nagging itch to see Adam Driver fight some dinosaurs should find enough in 65 for a satisfying scratch. 

For Consideration

Language: A handful of minor profanities (mostly “sh—”).

Violence: Human characters perish in the crash, and some blood is visible. A character receives several injuries and bloody wounds. Several creatures die, including one whose skin is melted by boiling water.     

Sexuality: None.   

Other: The opening title card establishes that the story takes place 65 million years ago “before the advent of humanity.” The premise left me curious whether the film would ultimately offer any twists that recontextualize the biblical creation account (ie. what if he gets stranded and becomes the film’s version of Adam, Earth’s first human?). But the movie doesn’t go in that direction. The fact that the planet is Earth and the “aliens” are dinosaurs is wholly irrelevant to the story.

Engage The Film

Shared humanity.

Let’s be honest. You don’t go see a movie like 65 looking for deep, philosophical themes. You watch it to see Adam Driver fight dinosaurs. Unlike many sci-fi films, 65 is not interested in probing existential questions. If there is a subtle underlying theme, it is one about shared humanity.

One of the most interesting creative decisions in the film is to introduce a language barrier between the two human characters. In a story featuring only two characters, removing their ability to verbally communicate is a bold and fascinating choice. Throughout their journey across prehistoric Earth, they must learn to communicate in other ways. In the process, they discover that they have more in common than they first thought. Both have experienced grief and long for family. Koa, the young girl, is captivated by recorded videos of Mills’ daughter and feels a clear connection, despite being strangers. As a father to a daughter, Mills understands Koa.

Immediately following the crash, Mills despairs. He is reluctant even to send a distress call, and he is on the brink of committing suicide. It is only after discovering Koa that he regains a sense of purpose and a will to survive. It may not be a particularly deep theme, but it is a wholesome message that people have a shared humanity that is worth fighting for.

Daniel holds a PhD in "Christianity and the Arts" from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author/co-author of multiple books and he speaks in churches and schools across the country on the topics of Christian worldview, apologetics, creative writing, and the Arts.

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Movie Review: ’65’

NEW YORK (OSV News) – Feeling nostalgic for the Mesozoic Era? You won’t be after seeing the sci-fi adventure “65” (Sony).

The film’s title refers to the millions of years into the past to which co-writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods transport their audience. Not exactly a frolicsome time as far as Mother Nature was concerned.

So, the protagonist, a humanoid alien named Mills (Adam Driver), discovers after the spaceship he pilots is wrecked by meteors and he’s forced to crash land on an unknown planet that turns out to be Earth. Humanoid is a rather loose term here since Mills is, in every respect, just a person who happens to be from outer space.

The same can be said of the only other survivor of the disaster, a young passenger called Koa (Ariana Greenblatt). She reminds Mills of Nevine (Chloe Coleman), the ailing daughter he left at home when he embarked on his mission. Thus he’s naturally disposed to protect and care for the lass.

To save themselves, the duo must trek to a rescue vehicle that detached from the main vessel and now lies atop a nearby mountain. Along the way, they’ll have to dodge an array of predatory creatures, including dinosaurs large and small. What follows is a vivid demonstration of the fact that – the adventures of Fred Flintstone notwithstanding – people and dinos don’t mix.

Mills’ determination to safeguard his accidental protege is admirable. And the bond that develops between the two is enjoyable to observe. Yet, what with the mud, the outsized bugs and the rapacious raptors hovering in the skies, the arduous journey on screen becomes a toilsome slog for viewers as well.

On the upside, Beck and Woods include few objectionable ingredients in their script. So “65” is probably acceptable for older teens. Still, the best advice for moviegoers young or grown is likely “Yabba dabba don’t.”

The film contains images of a gory wound, potentially upsetting plot developments, at least one mild oath and about a half-dozen crude terms. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @JohnMulderig1.

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Watch 65 with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Sodden sci-fi that somehow finds a way to bungle Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs, 65 is closer to zero.

Although it's silly, predictable, and sort of slow, 65 's missed opportunities are mostly balanced out by solid survival thriller action.

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65 is a Lean, Mean Dino Thriller as Straightforward as Its Title

Or: The tale of two characters trying to coolly walk away from our planet’s biggest explosion.

Alfred Hitchcock emphasized film as a visual medium above all else — a teaching that has developed a nearly cult-like reverence. 65 , the newest film from writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods , is a genre apart from the Master of Suspense but clearly worships from that same church. The Adam Driver-starring thriller is a lean, mean exercise in sci-fi suspense set far in our planetary past (if only by sheer misadventure).

Mills (Adam Driver) is a pilot shepherding a large group of spacebound passengers when the trip goes awry, ripping the ship apart and scattering it across an unknown planet. As it turns out, two passengers survive — Mills and a young woman named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt). We soon discover that the pair landed on Mesozoic-era Earth (unbeknownst to them) with only one possibility of escape. Beside the sci-fi technology and the existence of violent dinosaurs, at its core, 65 is a simple survival tale about a makeshift family : a pilot and young girl set against a monstrous world, with the ticking clock of a comet propelling their trek forward.

In some ways, 65 resembles a variety of media that have come before. The Jurassic Park/World comparisons are inevitable, with slices of the narrative feeling kin to such sci-fi classics. But just because the idea is familiar doesn’t mean it’s a poorly conceived or executed one. Part of the familiarity of 65 lies in the fact that the concept is so good that it honestly should have been made a half-dozen times before. The setting allows our protagonists to be set in a world emotionally familiar, yet unrecognizable and thoroughly hostile.

Though Driver is well known for his skill at outburst-laden roles (think of all those viral gifs of Kylo Ren smashing consoles or Charlie Barber hitting a wall), 65 ably showcases his skill at emotional subtlety. Mills and Koa are on board the same ship, but they don’t speak the same language and the pair repeatedly struggle to build effective communication and emotional trust in a hostile world. It adds well to the isolation of both, and gives Driver a chance to showcase his skills at a non-verbal performance. Similarly, Greenblatt spends the role speaking a language not of this planet, effectively only having subtle tools to emote and transmit her character’s meanings. She gives a wonderful performance under those difficult conditions.

Adam Driver battles dinosaurs in a tight sci-fi thriller that could’ve used a little more meat.

Everything about 65 is tight. There’s little inessential in the narrative, no surplus dialogue (to whom would our protagonists speak?), and only plot-driven exposition. The shot choice is well designed to build tension, carefully using the frame to hide the danger until it’s too late. The often-tight frame keeps the focus on our protagonists more often than not, which does well to enhance the film’s building suspense. That said, there are times where wider shots would have helped situate the viewer, or slightly longer cuts in a given scene would have let the tension linger. At times, it’s too lean, but that’s a preferable vice in a world full of overlong films stretching over 2.5 hours.

The dinosaurs look good on screen and are used well, if somewhat sparsely. The narrative promises survival against dinos and largely delivers, though the emergent emotional father-daughter narrative and the ticking clock of the comet are unexpectedly a larger focus. Both elements work, but with the dinosaurs being a key element of the promised story, one can’t help but desire a little more high-stakes action from our planet’s former rulers.

65 is not without its curious plot contrivances, however. There are times when Koa has vast leaps in her understanding of a situation or language, and knows precisely what to do when it’s oddly convenient. The premise of the ship crashing on Earth exactly when The Comet is going to hit is a fun way to showcase one of Earth’s most monumental eras, but it’s also a tad convenient that the protagonists hit that specific time period out of Earth’s whole billion-year history. Overall, however, 65 ’s lean narrative is a virtue, generating a tight story that works well.

The film isn’t exactly the dinosaur extravaganza one might be expecting, though that’s present to a relevant degree. At its core, the film is a tight story focusing on the growing familial relationship between a pair of protagonists who have no one else, in a world full of monsters. The performances are strong, the script is lean and largely successful, the dinosaurs look good, and it sticks the landing. It could strangely enough use a slightly longer runtime, but 65 remains a tight sci-fi thriller, and one worth an audience’s time.

65 opens in theaters on March 10.

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An astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet only to discover he's not alone. An astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet only to discover he's not alone. An astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet only to discover he's not alone.

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• Trivia The warning sound made by the ship's computer just after the crash was first used as the sound effect for the Martian walkers in The War of the Worlds (1953) .
• Goofs When the asteroid is viewed from the planet, it is glowing dark orange. Asteroids do not glow unless heated by friction such as that from atmospheric entry. In space, there is no such friction and the asteroid should be a dark rock and undetectable by eyesight. Solar wind can give a comet a tail but it will not make asteroids glow.

Mills : It's not because of you; it's for you!

• Crazy credits The TSG Entertainment logo dissolves into stars in space, leading directly into the opening shot of the movie, which is a long pan through celestial wonders of space, until the planet Somaris comes into view.
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• March 10, 2023 (United States)
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• $45,000,000 (estimated)
• $32,062,904
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• Mar 12, 2023
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65 (United States, 2023)

If all you’re looking for out of a movie is Adam Driver running around in a jungle shooting dinosaurs while protecting a young girl, 65 delivers in spades. If you’re hoping for something more complex, either in terms of character development, background narrative, or world-building, the movie has neither the time nor the patience to accommodate. The dino special effects are adequate for the job (better than in 1993’s Jurassic Park but inferior to those in the third installment of the Jurassic World series ) and Driver appears committed to the work. The running length is a svelte 93 minutes, meaning that 65 isn’t around long enough to wear out its welcome. By keeping its goals limited, it’s able to deliver what it promises, and that stands for something. I’ll admit I was more entertained by this high-concept sci-fi adventure than half the films I have seen thus far in 2023.

In their directorial debut, Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (the writers of A Quiet Place ) keep it simple. The plot could be the template for a video game: get the hero from Point A to Point B without dying. Along the way, there are various impediments that have to be overcome: rockslides, steam geysers, quicksand, and (of) course dinosaurs. 65 mixes in an Aliens - inspired subplot about a lone, grieving adult “adopting” and orphaned young girl. At no point, however, does Adam Driver say to any of the dinosaurs, “Get away from her, you bitch !”

One could argue that 65 is real throw-back – all the way back to the 1920s and 1930s, when monster movies could enthrall and amaze. The first two-thirds of King Kong , after all, focused on explorers wandering around a prehistoric jungle and encountering dinosaurs. 65 has all the advantages of modern technology but it’s not significantly more sophisticated than the movies of Willis O’Brien. This is the kind of production that provides a couple of memorable moments (the T-Rex “reveal,” which is spoiled by the trailers, being the most notable) but somehow seems smaller than it should. Maybe that’s because we have been trained to expect that a menagerie like this is appropriate only for epics while the most lofty goal 65 can claim is being a slickly-made B movie.

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65 Parent Guide

This movie has an interesting premise but the execution is an extinction level disaster..

Theaters: An astronaut crash lands on a unknown planet, but when he starts being hunted, he realizes he's actually on earth. 65 million years ago.

Release date March 10, 2023

Run Time: 93 minutes

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by keith hawkes.

Mills (Adam Driver) agreed to pilot a two year long space voyage for one reason - his daughter. Although the trip will separate them, he needs the money to pay for her medical care. But this trip is going to take longer than either of them expect…

When the ship is damaged as it passes through an uncharted asteroid belt, Mills lands on the nearest available planet, which happens to be Earth. But the Earth Mills crashes on is not one populated by humans. He’s arrived approximately 65 million years too early for us and the denizens of Earth in this era include huge bugs, strange plants…and the massive, terrible lizards we call dinosaurs.

You can really tell this movie was made by Americans. Who else would create a high-tech alien civilization capable of interstellar flight and still make them pay out of pocket for healthcare? Unfortunately, that little sociopolitical quirk isn’t the move’s only issue. Adam Driver is a capable actor, and he is just about the only reason to watch the film, but approximately 80% of his dialogue just consists of heavy mouth breathing to the point that it becomes distracting. Unfortunately, when he’s not on screen we’re either stuck with Koa, who doesn’t speak English (or barely anything else, for that matter), or some really, really, really weird dinosaurs. Somehow, 1993’s Jurassic Park remains the gold standard of dinosaur films, and this film, despite a generation’s worthof computer innovation, can’t even compete. Not least because the dinos still don’t have feathers, despite 30 years of scientific research in between these films indicating that they did. And if you think that feathered dinosaurs couldn’t be scary, I’d advise you to go look at a therizinosaur. Or a cassowary.

The editing in this movie is a real dog’s breakfast, almost literally. I think they edited portions of this film by feeding reels to a dog, and letting its digestive system do the work. (I don’t envy whoever had to recover the film, though.) Scenes either come to an abrupt and jarring end or drag out for a small eternity. This was one of those movies where I was checking my watch almost exactly every eight minutes, which is not an ideal audience experience.

Parents unconcerned by poor editing and dodgy writing might have some issues with the bloody violence in the film, which you should expect when you mix dinosaurs with humans, since we’re basically lunchboxes with legs as far as they’re concerned. There’s also a smattering of scatological profanity, but that’s about all you need to worry about – at least as far as content goes. The premise is interesting, but the execution is an extinction-level mess. In all honesty, I think I would have preferred being hit with a colossal asteroid to watching the film. The asteroid would at least be over sooner. And without quite as much heavy breathing, I hope.

About author

Keith hawkes, watch the trailer for 65.

65 Rating & Content Info

Why is 65 rated PG-13? 65 is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sci-fi action and peril, and brief bloody images

Violence: People are bitten and thrown around by dinosaurs. A character suffers a puncture wound in the crash, and another has a serious burn. An individual is seen contemplating suicide while holding a gun. Several corpses are visible. Dinosaurs are shot, stabbed, scalded, and blown up. A dinosaur is effectively de-fleshed by a geyser. Sexual Content: None. Profanity: There are seven scatological curses in the script. Alcohol / Drug Use: None.

Page last updated January 23, 2024

65 Parents' Guide

What do scientists think dinosaurs were really like? How has our understanding of dinosaurs evolved over time?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

Jurassic Park is adapted from the book of the same name by Michael Crichton. A very early depiction of prehistoric animals in fiction is in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World .

Related home video titles:

This film borrows some elements from After Earth . Other dinosaur movies include, obviously Jurassic Park , Jurassic Park: The Lost World , and Jurassic Park III , but also King Kong , Dinosaur , The Good Dinosaur , and tragically, Jurassic World , Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom , and Jurassic World: Dominion .

The Ending Of 65 Explained

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of the first "A Quiet Place" film, deliver their third directed feature together with "65," a sci-fi action thriller that sees the future collide with the past. The film follows Mills ( Adam Driver ), a pilot whose mission to transport people is upended after asteroids damage his ship, causing him to crash on an unknown planet. Although Mills has no idea where he is, the film tells us that he has landed on Earth — albeit 65 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the land and human civilization was nowhere in sight. With few options, Mills grabs Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) -– a young girl who's the only other survivor -– and begins traversing these dangerous lands in the hopes of reaching the other half of his ship to possibly escape.

"65" does its best to make dinosaurs scary again through its intense action and some of the creepier creatures that Mills and Koa come across. Along with some thrilling sci-fi action, the film delivers some interesting story beats for Mills and Koa as their personal struggles are touched on and they gain a stronger connection with one another. The film's finale is especially rich with story moments and action as the pair attempts to escape before a cataclysmic event keeps them in this prehistoric prison. With a lot happening in the film's final moments, let's delve into the fast-paced finale and nail-biter ending of "65."

Future meets past

While it might seem strange to see a futuristic soldier like Mills stuck in the middle of a prehistoric world, the film does delve into how he got there. Mills is actually from a distant planet whose people act and speak like human beings. The film never clarifies what species or race Mills people exactly are, so it's safe to assume that they must be humans too. Either way, Mills is tasked with transporting people to an undisclosed location, but his ship suffers severe damage from a cluster of asteroids, forcing him to crash-land on Earth.

So rather than Mills arriving on Earth through some kind of time-traveling or universe jumping, he simply exists 65 million years before our time. Mill's people are just so advanced that they've been able to develop the sophisticated technology and weapons that ultimately help him survive. Even with these tools, though, Mills faces fierce opposition from both the environment and creatures he's forced to fight against, leading to him nearly losing his life on more than one occasion. "65" is truly a future meets past scenario that pits futuristic tech against prehistoric beasts to see who's really dominant.

The meteor that killed the dinosaurs

Throughout the film, there is an obscure red-looking entity in the sky that seems like it's drifting closer to Earth. Koa is the first to see it when she notices a weird light phenomenon above her. However, when Mills sees it sometime later, it looks much more ominous and massive. At first, you can't help but hope that maybe it's just the rescue transport Mills called for coming down to Earth, but once Mills is able to get an actual read on what this strange entity is, it's much worse than expected.

Mills' scanner says that it's actually a gigantic meteor with the mass to cause cataclysmic destruction once it impacts Earth. Perhaps you are familiar with the idea that the dinosaurs were killed by a massive asteroid that caused a mass extinction event ? Well, this is that meteor — and it surprisingly has a stronger connection to Mills' current situation. 

The asteroid cluster that Mills encountered earlier, which ultimately caused the ship to crash, actually came from this world-ending meteor, and it looks like it's coming to finish the job. This meteor adds new stakes to Mills and Koa's escape and plays a big role in making the finale of "65" super intense and visually stunning.

Brought to the edge

Mills crashing into this rough survival situation has a deeper effect on him than initially expected and hints at a secret he hides throughout the film. Once he's able to get up after the crash, he sees that nearly all the passengers are dead and that half of his ship is missing. Even worse is that the part of the ship containing the escape pod is nowhere in sight, which means that there's virtually no way off the planet. After his first few steps outside, Mills also sees how dangerous the environment truly is. Rather than try to survive, he looks like he's ready to end things.

While he attempts to call for help at first, he eventually just tells them that he isn't worth looking for and prepares to end his own life right then and there. However, he soon finds Koa, and she gives him a reason to keep going. Given how harsh this environment is and how vicious the creatures are, it's hard not to blame Mills for thinking that things are over. 

It later becomes clear that Mills' hopelessness stems from the death of his daughter, Nevine (Chloe Coleman). Mills' willingness to accept his fate after the crash is the first moment that hints at that. 

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by callin g 1 -800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Seeing something more

Mills' relationship with Koa starts on some rocky ground. Their inability to communicate — because they don't speak the same language — makes for some frustrating moments between the two, with Koa sometimes doing her own thing, which really gets under Mills' skin. However, Mills eventually warms up to Koa because he sees her as something more than just a helpless survivor — he almost begins to see her as a surrogate daughter. While it at first appears to annoy Mills, he definitely appreciates Koa's interest in learning about his daughter through video messages. They watch a hologram of her together in the cave and it feels like a real bonding moment between them. 

Ultimately, Mills and Koa have some real father/daughter energy in some of their more light-hearted moments together. It's these moments, which connect back to Mills' daughter and the way that he does everything he can to protect her, that make it clear that he sees his daughter in Koa. Plus, once we learn that Mills already knows that his daughter is dead, it becomes obvious that he's trying to make up for what he couldn't do for Nevine. 

Mills and Koa's bond is a central part of the film's heart and arguably the main thing that keeps them going over the course of their survival adventure. 

Environmental horrors

The vicious dinosaurs in "65" are certainly enough to make surviving in this world a daunting task for Koa and Mills, but it's far from the only thing they have to worry about. While the big creatures are tough to deal with on their own, there are also some big nasty bugs that cause the pair some trouble in their journey. There's a gut-wrenching moment when one of the bugs crawls down Koa's throat while she's sleeping that is sure to leave a massive knot in your stomach. Beyond that, just looking at the sticky goo that comes from one of the bugs that Mills crushes makes you not want to touch an insect ever again. 

Unfortunately, the environment is just as deadly as the creatures they find in it. As Mills learns, it's very easy to walk into deadly tar fields or quicksand. Mills and Koa's cave exploration nearly proves fatal when a cave-in occurs. Of course, there's also the geyser field that Mills first comes across after landing on the planet spews water so hot that it could melt skin. 

"65" makes viewers thankful that Earth isn't like this anymore since it looks like a genuinely nightmarish world to try and survive. 

Is there help?

Almost as soon as he crashes on Earth, Mills attempts to contact his people to try and organize a rescue for him and the other passengers. However, after realizing that all the passengers are dead, he deletes the help message and calls off help — largely because he thinks it's hopeless anyway. Once Mills finds Koa still alive, though, he creates a message that once again signals the need for assistance, and he's left wondering if anyone will come. So, does anyone pick up Mills' distress signal?

Luckily for him and Koa, his message manages to reach someone, but they're not exactly within easy reach. Based on what his scanner says, a ship will meet him at an interception point in space to take him and Koa home. However, the only way for Mills and Koa to get back to space is by finding a distant escape pod before the fast-approaching meteor strikes Earth. 

It's a shame that no one can come and just scoop up Mills and Koa from this horrific situation, but the realization that there is a way home at least drives them to survive and push forward.

Koa's realization

Koa's main concern throughout the film is finding her parents. Mills initially tells her that her parents are at the top of the mountain where the escape pod is, but he only tells her this to get her to go on the journey with him. In reality, Mills knows that her parents are dead and only tells her otherwise to keep her motivated as they journey toward the escape pod. There's even a point where Mills becomes so frustrated by their situation and language barrier that he tells her that he lied. Unfortunately, since Koa can't understand him, she still doesn't know that her parents are dead until she finds the destroyed escape pods. 

This realization that Mills has lied about her parents being dead understandably hurts her and she becomes furious with him. For Koa, the journey to the ship likely feels like it was for nothing now, and part of her would rather just stay on the planet and die rather than go on without her parents. It's a tough moment for Koa, and it almost seems like she's not going to go along with Mills to leave Earth. 

However, he's able to get her back on his side by deeply opening up to her about what happened to his daughter. 

The truth behind Mills' daughter

When Koa gets angry at Mills for lying about her parents, he decides it's a good time to tell her about what really happened to his daughter Nevine. When Mills first left, his daughter was set to go through a procedure that would cure her of a mysterious illness. This procedure would be paid for by this transport job Mills was completing when he crashlanded on Earth. Although he would be away from his daughter for two years while completing the trip, at least she would be healthy when he returned. Unfortunately, Nevine died while he was out doing this job — which means Mills never got to see her again after he left. 

The death of Mills' daughter is hinted at throughout the film, and there are some key moments that show Mills' frustration. As noted earlier, his willingness to accept his fate at the start of the film shows the lingering pain he has from his daughter's death. The video messages from her also start to take a dour turn that matches the gut-wrenching feelings of some of the dreams Mills has about her. Further, the way Mills views Koa as a daughter and how he protects her also make more sense once it's clear that his daughter is gone. 

Mills opens up to Koa about his lingering pain and how he felt that protecting her was a way for him to feel like he did something right. This admission helps Koa forgive Mills, and she decides to continue on with him to try and return to their home. 

Botched launch

Now that Koa and Mills have unpacked some of their emotional baggage with one another, they have little time to spare. Fragments of the meteor are crashing all over the place, and there isn't much time left until the meteor collides with Earth. They quickly hop into the escape craft and start the launch sequence. Unfortunately, the fragments begin to impact the mountain they're on and cause the terrain to collapse, sending the ship hurtling toward the ground. 

Miraculously, not only are Koa and Mills somehow not dead from that violent crash, but the escape pod is also still seemingly operable. However, they can't launch it right away because the ship has been flipped upside-down. As they scramble to deal with the inverted spacecraft, they soon realize they have bigger problems on their hands — two giant dinosaurs are approaching them, creating a deadly predicament. Although safety seems right in their grasp, this meteor once again causes Mills and Koa problems that could put the final nails in their coffins. 

Sacrifices and rescues

Mills and Koa have a lot on their plate — an unflyable ship, a giant meteor racing towards them, and two dinosaurs looking to gobble them up — so Mills springs into action. He's able to distract the two dinosaurs away from the ship, but his gun is malfunctioning which leaves him a sitting duck. Everything seems hopeless for once again, but Koa is able to show him a hologram of his daughter that motivates him to kill the two dinosaurs. Even better, one of the dinosaurs has actually reoriented the ship by slamming into it, which means it can fly again. 

However, before they can escape, the dinosaur Mills has wounded approaches them seeking revenge. To protect Koa, Mills sacrifices himself to lead the dinosaur away from the ship towards the hot geysers he came across at the start of the film. 

At first, the geysers don't seem to do much damage to the dinosaur, and Mills' wounded leg makes him easy prey. Luckily, Koa is there to rescue him by stabbing the dinosaur in the eye with the makeshift weapon she crafted earlier. This causes the beast to fall into the geyser, where the intense heat causes its skin to melt and ultimately kills it. The big finale action sequence of "65" is full of emotional sacrifices and rescues that show how Mills and Koa have come together. 

Having killed the dinosaur, Mills and Koa have one last thing to do -– escape! 

With the world-ending meteor nearing impact and Mills severely injured, there's no time to waste. Koa helps Mills back to the escape ship and Mills launches the ship. They narrowly fly into space, just missing the meteor, and make their escape from this prehistoric hellscape. Mills and Koa even get some satisfaction knowing that all the dinosaurs that have been hunting them down have been wiped out by the meteor and will no longer roam Earth.

Mills and Koa's fates are never truly revealed, but they should be heading to the interception point, which implies that they will be rescued. Throughout the end credits, the film even shows what happens after the meteor causes the extinction of the dinosaurs and the evolution that eventually leads to human civilization. Although the climax of "65" kept Mills and Koa on the run and near death the entire time, they finally have a moment of well-earned rest.

Could there be a sequel?

There's no news on a sequel for "65" going into development and there likely won't be one. The film ends on a pretty conclusive note, with Mills and Koa escaping Earth before the meteor hits and the end credits show how humanity developed over time. The dinosaurs are gone and there are no hints that someone else crash-landed there beforehand, so a prequel isn't likely either. Not to mention, the box office predictions for "65" aren't looking too hot. The film faces stiff competition in "Scream VI" and is projected to earn just shy of $10 million in its opening weekend — which isn't great considering its $45 million budget.

If the film does better than expected or becomes a hit on streaming, there's certainly a chance that a sequel could happen. Although there are no hints that someone landed on Earth before Mills, it's possible that a prequel could go back further to show someone else having to fight for their life. In this case, "65" could turn into a bit of an anthology series that sees futuristic soldiers having to face off against dinosaurs in a battle for survival. 

Sequel ambitions for "65" will likely be snuffed out by lackluster opening weekend box office results, but a cult following could change things.

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‘65’ Review: What on Earth?

Millions of years ago, a guy from another planet landed on this one. Like most survivors, he had a moody little girl with him.

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By A.O. Scott

To paraphrase an old Monty Python sketch , nobody suspects the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction.

Certainly the poor dinosaurs didn’t, though for their more obsessive present-day human fans the fact that this movie is called “65” — as in million years ago — might count as a spoiler. When Mills the space pilot crash-lands on a muddy, reptile-infested Earth after his vessel is hit by an asteroid, you might have an inkling of the larger disaster in store.

I don’t mean the movie; that would be unkind. “65,” directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (two writers of the first “Quiet Place” film), is not interesting enough to be truly terrible or terrible enough to be halfway interesting. As Mills, Adam Driver does a lot of breathing and grunting as he runs a gantlet of familiar dangers. In addition to the T. rexes and other saurian menaces, he faces quicksand, large bugs, falling rocks, malfunctioning equipment and the withering judgment of a 9-year-old girl.

But let’s back up a second. Who are these people, and how did they get to our planet before (if I may quote the opening titles) “the advent of mankind”? The answer is that they belonged to an ancient extraterrestrial civilization, one sufficiently advanced to have invented not only space travel, but the usual array of futuristic sci-fi technology.

Their health care system was pretty bad, though. Mills’s adolescent daughter, Nevine (Chloe Coleman), suffers from a persistent, apparently life-threatening cough, and the only way he can afford her treatment is by taking on a high-paying “long-range exploratory mission.” He’s already grief-stricken when the asteroid hits, cleaving his spaceship in two and killing all of his cryogenically frozen passengers except one, a girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt).

The folks on their home planet, realistically enough, speak more than one language, so Koa and Mills — whose native idiom is English — can’t communicate very well. Also, he’s a grumpy, unhappy man and she’s a moody girl, so we’re on familiar survival-story terrain. “65” is a little like “ The Last of Us ,” but with dinosaurs instead of mushrooms and no obvious sociological theme that would sustain a think piece.

Which would be to its credit, if it managed to be a simple, effective action movie. Or science-fiction movie. Or scary movie. Or something. Like Mills’s emotional back story, the special effects seem to have been pulled out of a box of secondhand ideas. Nor is the execution all that impressive. There’s little in the way of awe, suspense or surprise. Just a quickly hatched plan to get off this God-forsaken planet and leave it to its fate.

65 Rated PG-13. Dinosaur blood and prehistoric curses. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters.

A.O. Scott is a co-chief film critic. He joined The Times in 2000 and has written for the Book Review and The New York Times Magazine. He is also the author of “Better Living Through Criticism.” More about A.O. Scott

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’65’: Review

By Fionnuala Halligan 2023-03-10T17:07:00+00:00

Adam Driver fights to survive on prehistoric Earth in this entertaining popcorn movie

Source: Sony Pictures

Dirs/scr: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods. US. 2023, 93 mins.

Adam Driver gives the type of performance almost never associated with an action film in 65, a highly efficient thriller from the writers of A Quiet Place . There’s a lot in here which is familiar, as Scott Beck and Bryan Woods – who also direct – mix dinosaurs with space travel while also adding the father/daughter narrative which is currently ruling the airwaves in The Last Of Us (and also has a mother/daughter space antecedent in Aliens ). We’ve seen the bones of this creature before, for sure, but some terrific GGI monsters, swampy scares and Driver’s committed performance make 65 a snap-toothed popcorn multiplex movie which, at 93 minutes, is sprightly in comparison with its lumbering rivals.

 Terrific GGI monsters, swampy scares and Driver’s committed performance make  65  a snap-toothed popcorn multiplex movie

As Commander Mills, a space pilot from a time before mankind existed, Driver has no superpowers – just some cool Star Trek -like gadgetry and a good gun – when his ship crashes on an unknown planet, ahem, 65 million years ago. For those who haven’t figured out the footprints yet, an errant meteor has brought him down to Earth. Dinosaur fans (of which there are so, so many) will be delighted to see that the monsters he’s about to encounter are the best-rendered and most sweatily-scary yet, even as his path to survival encounters some highly-familiar terrain.

Sony has gone wide with 65, and will release it in China at the end of the month, where its grosses will be closely-watched. It’s one of the few original (i.e. non-sequel) entertainment titles in the marketplace, so a lot is riding on Mills’ ship. 65 is a high-concept film – dinosaurs, space, Adam Driver, a kid – with a tiny cast, one of whom conducts most of her performance via hologram: it’s old style, in other words. It’s won’t close the current gulf between arthouse and theme park-style entertainment, but it is well-acted, constructed and executed.

Beck and Woods take an unusual amount of screen time to show their narrative cards, starting out with Mills saying goodbye to his sick daughter Nevine (Chloe Coleman). He’s about to take a two-year job captaining a ship across space in order to fund her medical bills. Mid-flight, he wakes up to discover it has been hit by an asteroid, and a spectacular crash ensues, killing all passengers on board – or so he thinks. Stranded in a swamp surrounded by corpses, he debates suicide. Thoughts of his daughter spur him on, and he soon finds her mirror image in the child Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) who has miraculously survived. To say they are surrounded by peril understates the threat posed by the Earth of 65 million years ago. 

Thankfully Mills is brave, super-ripped-fit, a crack shot and able to take repeated punishment (a stabbing, a dislocated shoulder, being consumed by a swamp) and still soldier on. He doesn’t speak the same language as Koa, but they slowly start to form a bond as they try to find a missing escape pod.

There are a lot of questions here. Why is a child on this ship? Where are these pre-historic spacemen going? How has the production design managed to be so creative given most of the film’s budget seems to have been spent on Driver and dino-effects? Left to create a world between a soundstage and a swamp, Kevin Ishioka, aided by Salvatore Torino’s lensing, provides a credible world for Mills and Koa.

The thrill of 65 is simple ‘they’re behind you’ jumps. Looming out of the prehistoric vines come our old favourites and, after Jurassic Park , we know the pecking order. Cuteness, followed by raptors, working up to a T-Rex or three, accompanied by a score which doesn’t showboat and a sweet sense of timing. These creatures really are impressive, and, even more helpfully, not accompanied by Driver making wisecracks. He takes this world seriously and so will you, the viewer, by the end.

Dino scares are almost as old as cinema itself. It’s quite comforting, post-pandemic, to see these pea-brained foes raise their beady eyes again. It seems to signify that normal business has resumed: the box office will prove whether we’re going back to the future or not.

Production companies: Bron Creative, Raimi Productions, Beck Woods Production

Worldwide distribution: Sony

Producers: Sam Raimi, Deborah Liebling, Zainab Azizi, Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

Screenplay: Scott Back, Bryan Woods

Cinematography: Salvatore Torino

Production design: Kevin Ishioka

Editing: Joris Schaeffer, Jane Tones

Music: Chris Bacon

Main cast: Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman

• United States

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The Democrats’ coming winter of discontent

65 is a better B-movie than it has any right to be

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John Ehrett

Once you commit to the outrageous setup, the film gets straight to the point

Growing up, one of my favorite books was Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, the story of a boy whose plane crash-lands in the Canadian wilderness and who must then fend for survival with only a single tool. 65 tries to pull off something similar, but with dinosaurs and sci-fi weapons. And bizarrely enough, it’s a far better B-movie than it has any right to be.

Yes, the setup of this film is seriously convoluted. Adam Driver stars as Mills, a long-haul space shipper who works for a spacefaring human civilization based on a planet other than Earth. When…

Growing up, one of my favorite books was Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet , the story of a boy whose plane crash-lands in the Canadian wilderness and who must then fend for survival with only a single tool. 65 tries to pull off something similar, but with dinosaurs and sci-fi weapons. And bizarrely enough, it’s a far better B-movie than it has any right to be.

Yes, the setup of this film is seriously convoluted. Adam Driver stars as Mills, a long-haul space shipper who works for a spacefaring human civilization based on a planet other than Earth. When his vessel collides with an unexpected asteroid belt, he’s forced to crash-land on Earth — 65 million years before the present day. That’s right: this film takes place a long time ago, but in a galaxy not quite so far away.

Most of the vessel’s passengers are killed outright, except for Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), a little girl who reminds Mills of his own daughter. With more asteroid impacts imminent, Mills and Koa must make a fifteen-kilometer trek through forested country to reach an escape vehicle in the crashed remains of Mills’s ship.

Oh, and there are dinosaurs. That’s probably why you went to this movie in the first place.

All of this, of course, is eminently ridiculous. And the absurdities just mount upon reflection. Why do the “alien humans” of the technologically advanced past all dress like Californians? Why is our hero’s name Mills? Why don’t any of these spacecraft seem to have energy shields to deal with meteors?

Yet despite all these issues, there’s something about 65 that really works. 

Maybe it’s the fact that this is a profoundly earnest film in the best of ways, one utterly devoid of snark or sarcasm. That’s not exactly what you might expect from a story about a hardened old warrior and a spunky young teenager (the banter between The Last of Us ’s Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, for instance, makes up most of the show), and is explained by the fact that Mills and Koa have a language gap that forces them to communicate haltingly. But in a cinematic marketplace increasingly defined by Marvel-style humor, the sheer seriousness of the proceedings here is a real asset. Everything doesn’t have to set up a joke.

Here, quite the opposite. Tonally, 65 mixes the elegiac mood of The Road or Logan with the rough-around-the-edges, Americana-flavored survivalist energy of The Hunger Games . Those are, for sure, highbrow points of comparison. But at its best, 65 manages to channel that same reflective sensibility, that quiet respect for a natural order red in tooth and claw. (This is probably attributable, at least in part, to directors Scott Beck and Brian Woods’s choice to avoid a bombastic techno-inspired score in favor of a stripped-down acoustic soundtrack.)

Indeed, for a movie whose original pitch was probably something like “spaceman Adam Driver battles dinosaurs,” there’s surprisingly little actual dinosaur mayhem onscreen. That’s not to imply the movie prefers sweeping Jurassic Park -style shots of migrating herbivores — I think it’s safe to say the film’s carnivore population rate is anomalous — but that dinosaurs simply aren’t the main attraction. Rather, this is a story of man against nature in a much bigger sense, of Mills’s confrontation with a vast, nonhuman world that existed before him and will exist long after him. That’s existentially haunting stuff, and it drives the drama here.

Clocking in at ninety minutes, 65 is a pleasingly spare genre flick that never wears out its welcome. There’s no turgid world building or plot lines that go nowhere. Once you commit to the outrageous setup, the film gets right to the point. Maybe this doesn’t quite merit a trip to the theater, but it’s at least worth a stream.

In the end, 65 , to its great credit, is a lot less schlocky than anyone would’ve thought. It might not be profound , but it at least feels grown-up in a sort of surprising way. And that’s a win in its own right.

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