65

Starting a long time ago in a galaxy far away, 65 seems to be hinting at loftier ambitions it never fulfills.

Aside from the surface curiosity and a few harrowing creature confrontations, this muddled science-fiction adventure struggles to heighten the emotional stakes. Its high-minded concept becomes lost in the cosmos.

The story follows an astronaut named Mills (Adam Driver), whose latest mission as a spaceship pilot involves leaving his young daughter (Chloe Coleman) behind.

We’re hardly acquainted with him before Mills suffers a catastrophic crash of his spaceship on a distant planet, later revealed to be Earth, 65 million years in the past — which apparently explains the film’s title.

Once he regains his bearings, he become resigned to his fate. Then he finds a fellow survivor in wayward teenage girl Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) whose origins are unknown but who becomes an ally in their shared quest to somehow return home.

However, any means of rescue or escape involves navigating rugged terrain populated by prehistoric beasts who aren’t receptive to visitors. You’d never know which species was facing imminent extinction.

Their distress calls remain unanswered, their vessel seems beyond repair, and the skies above appear ominous. For Mills and Koa, their devotion to one another fuels their mutual determination despite the bleak circumstances.

The film immerses us in a visually striking dystopian landscape fraught with dangers both real and imagined, but the story inhabiting those surroundings hardly seems worth the trouble. Its choppy narrative flow suggests post-production tinkering might be a factor.

The directing tandem of screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place) unspools a simple yet provocative what-if scenario involving humans and dinosaurs, and not in a genetically engineered Jurassic Park way. So much for our respective rungs on the evolutionary ladder.

Anachronisms are never explained, and contextual details are sketchy, but the film is better in its quieter moments, when moviegoers are able to share a sense of wonder while exploring this strange old world through their eyes.

Driver anchors the action with a sympathetic portrayal. Yet 65 fizzles out, lacking thematic depth and texture for its survival saga to connect the past with the present.

Rated PG-13, 93 minutes.