65 ending explained: what happens in the Adam Driver sci-fi movie?

Mills (Adam Driver) and Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) in a cave at night in 65
Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt in 65 (Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)

What happens at the end of 65? Here's how the sci-flick starring Adam Driver (and a whole host of dinosaurs) played out.

65 sees spacefarer Mills (Driver) leaving his family and home planet behind on a two-year-long deep-space voyage in order to earn some extra cash. However, the trip really doesn't pay off. During his flight, the ship is hit by an asteroid and ends up crashing down to Earth, 65 million years in the past. 

Initially, he thinks he's the only survivor, though his ship soon detects signs of life from one of the spacecraft's cryo pods. With Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) to protect, he resolves to get both of them off the planet, having to do battle with all manner of "alien" creatures — aka dinosaurs — en route. 

Be warned, there are big spoilers ahead. If you'd prefer to find out what happens for yourself, check out our article explaining how to watch 65 instead. Otherwise, here's 65's ending explained.

65 ending explained: what happens to Mills and Koa?

Mills (Adam Driver), weapon in hand, with Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) in the foreground in 65

Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt in 65 (Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)

The bulk of the film sees Mills trying to escort the young girl, Koa, to the other half of his crashed ship, which is embedded in a mountain 15 kilometers away. 

By the time they reach the top, they've already encountered a number of dinosaurs, but there's a second problem on the horizon. Aside from the variety of predators lurking around every corner, there's also a giant asteroid on course for an imminent collision with the planet.

Against all odds, the pair reach the mountaintop. There, Koa is devastated to learn that Mills had lied to her. At the outset of their journey, he'd told her that her family was waiting at the top of the mountain in order to convince her to come on the hike to the other half of the ship.

Understandably, she's fairly upset. To bring her back around, Mills confesses that his daughter had died. Since he'd taken the long-haul flight job to earn enough money to pay for treatment for her unknown illness, the whole thing was essentially rendered a pointless journey. 

With this new common ground established, the pair are even more determined to flee together. They climb into the cockpit of the vessel and prepare to launch, but a smaller meteorite smashes into the ship and flips the escape pod over. Mills and Koa come to just in time, as two large dinosaurs emerge and begin to close in on the ship.

Mills (Adam Driver) showing Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) how his scanner can be used to project images in 65.

Koa uses Mills' scanning device to distract some dinos long enough to help Mills kill them as they try to escape.   (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

The pair work together and Mills manages to kill the two creatures before they can destroy the ship. They're not out of the woods yet, though, as another, larger quadrupedal dinosaur — the one they'd fled into the caves from — returns to seek its revenge.

During the ensuing struggle, the dino rights the spaceship. Mills urges Koa to launch the ship whilst he leads the creature away on foot. Mills is basically out of options to fight the creature, but he lays eyes on the hot springs he stumbled on shortly after his crash. He dives past a geyser, expecting it to kill the beast, but the giant predator survives the first blast and bears down on him whilst Mills is lying on the ground.  

As the beast goes to eat him, Koa rushes in to save him by stabbing the dinosaur through the eye with the large piece of bone she'd stashed in her bag earlier. Distracted, the creature thrashes in pain and stays rooted in place just long enough to take a full blast from the geyser, finishing it off and allowing the pair to escape.

With no more dinos in their immediate vicinity, the pair make their way back to the ship and get off the planet just before the asteroid strikes the planet, triggering a mass extinction event and wiping out all life on Earth.

65 is now available to watch in theaters. For info on movie listings near you, head to the official 65 website. And for more films to look forward to, check out our guide to the biggest new movies coming out this year.

Martin Shore
Staff Writer at WhatToWatch.com

Martin is a Staff Writer with WhatToWatch.com, where he produces a variety of articles focused on the latest and greatest films and TV shows. 

Some of his favorite shows are What We Do In The Shadows, Bridgerton, Gangs of London, The Witcher, Doctor Who, and Ghosts. When he’s not watching TV or at the movies, Martin’s probably still in front of a screen playing the latest video games, reading, or watching the NFL.