In reality, there is a fascinating continuity between the two.
Both stories use isolation and limited information to generate tension.
In Jurassic Park, Lex and Tim are trapped inside a massive theme park where familiar systems have become unreliable. The audience experiences danger partly through what the children cannot see.
In 25 Miles Out, a character in the wilderness communicates through a walkie-talkie while attempting to understand a mysterious situation involving a missing person.
The difference is scale.
Jurassic Park was one of the biggest productions of its time. 25 Miles Out is intentionally intimate and atmospheric.
That contrast may actually make Richards' return more interesting than a conventional blockbuster comeback would have been.
She is not attempting to recreate the past.
She is using a different medium and a different kind of storytelling.
And there is another important connection: nature.
The original Jurassic Park was built around humanity's fascination with resurrecting extinct animals and controlling nature through technology. Its central warning is ultimately about the limits of human control.
25 Miles Out, meanwhile, places its characters in a remote natural environment and uses that wilderness as part of the psychological threat.
The project also directs its proceeds toward wildlife conservation, creating a real-world connection to environmental causes.
A Horror Film With a Conservation Mission
Perhaps the most unusual element of 25 Miles Out is its charitable purpose.
The film is being produced to benefit the World Wildlife Fund, with all proceeds from the project slated to be donated to the organization.
That connection gives the project a significance beyond entertainment.
The World Wildlife Fund has worked on conservation since its founding in 1961. Its work focuses on protecting biodiversity, wildlife and critical ecosystems while collaborating with governments, scientists, businesses, Indigenous peoples and local communities.
WWF says its mission is to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature. Its conservation work spans wildlife, forests, oceans, freshwater systems, food and climate.
The need for such work is substantial.
WWF reports that wildlife populations have declined significantly since 1970 and identifies habitat loss, overexploitation, illegal wildlife trade and climate-related pressures among the major threats facing nature.
That makes the charitable element of 25 Miles Out particularly relevant.
The film does not simply use wilderness as a horror backdrop. Its creators are connecting a story about fear and isolation with a real-world effort to protect the natural world.
For Richards, whose public artistic work has frequently included landscapes and nature, the connection feels especially appropriate.
From Dinosaur Island to Quiet Landscapes
There is something poetic about the contrast between Richards' most famous role and her current life.
As Lex Murphy, she was surrounded by chaos.
She ran from dinosaurs.
She crawled through dark spaces.
She hid from velociraptors.
She raced through a collapsing technological system.
As a painter, however, Richards has chosen a dramatically different environment.
The noise of the film set has been replaced by the quiet of the studio.
The frantic pace of an action sequence has been replaced by the patience required to build an image layer by layer.
The giant creatures of Jurassic Park have given way to landscapes, portraits and intimate visual moments.