65 (Movie Review)

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

65 is the new science fiction thriller starring Adam Driver, which was written and directed by the duo that wrote A Quiet Place.

As the title implies, the film takes place 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Mills (Adam Driver) is an astronaut. He appears to be human, but is not a native Earthling. He, along with his family, are from another planet in which he and crew do exploratory missions throughout the galaxy in order to carve out a living. He and his family are humans from another technologically advanced world. He has access to a spaceship and fantastic weaponry.

On his final journey before finally settling down with his wife and daughter, a catastrophic event occurs onboard his ship before crash landing on a prehistoric Earth. There is one other surviver named Koa (Ariana Goldblatt). She does not speak English, so she has trouble communicating with Mills. Mills, in the meantime, has to get his bearings of where he is and what is out there. They’ll both find out that the planet is overrun by dinosaurs.

I remember I first saw the trailer a few months ago and thought it looked pretty cool. It has a very minimal cast, so the rest of budget resources went to the visual effects. It basically looked like a futuristic version of Jurassic Park. With that being said, I think 65 buries the JP franchise after part 1.

65 is definitely a “shake and bake” type-of-film, because it’s easy to access and digest. It doesn’t seek to hit you over the head with what it’s trying to say, because it has many familiar and historical beats that the layman could probably figure out on their own.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, this was written and directed by Scott Beck and Ryan Woods, who wrote A Quiet Place and make their directorial debuts with 65, which is also produced by Sam Raimi. The film clocks in at 93 minutes with credits, so it’s a shorter than usual film, but plays out in a self-contained way so it’s not long enough to become derivative. It’s a tight thriller that can live out side by side next to The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, etc.

One drawback that 65 has, that Operation Fortune had, is that it has also been released in a crowded March marketplace. I also watched 65 in a small AMC Laser theater, so I cannot wait until the 4K disc is released, because it will most certainly have a great Dolby Atmos soundtrack. If you can make it out in time, I do think 65 is a fun enough film that should be seen on the big screen.

65 is in theaters March 10, 2023 (USA)

• Rating Certificate: PG-13 (for intense sci-fi action and peril, and brief bloody images)
• Studios & Distributors: Beck Woods | Bron Creative | Colombia Pictures | Raimi Productions | Sony Pictures Entertainment
• Country: USA
• Language: English
• Run Time: 93 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• Directors: Scott Beck | Bryan Woods
• Written By: Scott Beck | Bryan Woods
• Release Date: 10 March 2023