HBO Max Is Streaming A Forgotten Adam Driver Sci-Fi Movie That Deserves A Second Look

"65" is a movie that tempts you with the promise of watching Adam Driver shoot dinosaurs for an hour and a half. Once it has you ensnared, however, it keeps you engaged with ... well, Adam Driver shooting dinosaurs for an hour and a half. In fact, "65" depicts Adam Driver bringing on the extinction of the dinos. Beyond that, there's not much to this sci-fi actioner, but that's sort of the point. The movie is now streaming on HBO Max and is a fun little outing for those looking for no more than something that does exactly what it says on the tin.

"65" debuted back in 2023 and had a kind of cool premise that flips the usual space-exploration-gone-wrong narrative on its head. The film follows a pilot played by Driver who sets off on a space expedition only to become stranded on an alien planet after his ship is pelted by asteroids. That alien planet is Earth, 65 million years ago.

That's pretty much all the setup this film needs. The rest just plays out exactly how you might imagine an Adam Driver vs. Dinos actioner to play out. There's plenty of cool sequences and spectacle, as well as a serviceable emotional core that adds to the stakes of the whole thing. "65" wasn't exactly met with widespread critical praise upon its debut, but it's more than worth a stream and might even have been unfairly dismissed upon its original release.

"65" is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who co-wrote "A Quiet Place" and wrote and directed the terrifying, twisted High Grant-led "Heretic." Their dinosaur sci-fi actioner wasn't quite the triumph those two horror efforts represent, but it was perhaps unfairly maligned upon its initial release.

"65" stars Adam Driver as Mills, who embarks on a space exploration mission to earn the funds to treat his sick daughter. He pilots the Zoic, a ship transporting 35 passengers, which is soon hit by a horde of asteroids, causing it to crash land on Earth. Stranded on this alien planet with no means of escape, Mills is initially resigned to his fate. Soon, however, he discovers another survivor of the crash. As such, the stakes come not only from Driver's space-dad trying to survive amid the harsh environs of our own planet, but from his pledge to protect this young survivor: Ariana Greenblatt's Koa.

Koa becomes a surrogate for Mills' own daughter back on his home planet, strengthening Mills' resolve to find a way off Earth. But to do so, he has to contend with the many prehistoric beasts that roam the already dangerous terrain — hence the whole shooting dinosaurs thing. "65" is also packed with intense stunts that were mostly made up on the fly, so there's an immediacy and spontaneity to the action that actually adds something novel to the whole affair. All of which means that the film is at least worth considering for a reappraisal following a pretty dire initial critical response.

"65" didn't have the best debut. When it hit theaters in March 2023, it ended up grossing $60 million worldwide on a $45 million budget, which, if you know how the movie box office actually works, likely means that the movie didn't make anyone any money. What's more, critics weren't all that impressed. "65" managed a meager 35% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, which might not seem like the best advertisement for its sci-fi action stylings. But the movie is a pretty fun time if you go in expecting as much.

/Film's Sarah Milner found that "65" certainly delivered on dinosaur scares even if it failed to offer much else, and the film found fans elsewhere, too. John Nugent of Empire Magazine rated the film three out of five stars, describing it as a "short, sharp, largely original major studio movie" that earned points merely for being "unbound to any franchise or intellectual property." Dex Wesley Parra of the Austin Chronicle was similarly complimentary, writing that "65" has "just the right amount of vigor to survive its relatively short runtime."

Ultimately, then, "65" clearly didn't set out to redefine the sci-fi action genre. Should it have gone directly to streaming? Possibly. It is pretty much a streaming movie that somehow got a major theatrical release, at least in terms of its premise. Perhaps if it had gone straight to HBO Max, where it currently resides, it would have been met with better reviews. As it stands, if all you're looking for is Adam Driver shooting dinosaurs (and, and let's face it, why wouldn't you be?), then "65" has what you need in spades and is available to stream right now.