“The End of Oak Street” Delivers Some Fun Dino Action and Some Illogical Moments
- Matt Palmer
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
In “The End of Oak Street,” a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports a neighborhood to someplace unknown. The Platt family soon discovers that their survival depends on sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.
“The End of Oak Street” is a fun, nostalgic and thrilling creature feature. The movie delivers a strong performance from Anne Hathaway, a fast-paced 1980s suburban survival setup and a refreshing twist of dropping dinosaurs into a regular neighborhood. And, even though it's a fun movie, I’m kind of mixed about the ending.
Before getting into the dinosaur action, Anne Hathaway’s performance is easily the anchor of the movie. Her ability to seamlessly transition from a relatable, vulnerable suburban mom handling marital strain to a fiercely protective, full-on action heroine fighting to keep her kids alive is a major highlight.
I really enjoyed the fresh, gonzo premise of an entire 1980s suburban neighborhood suddenly getting ripped out of time and dropped straight into a prehistoric rainforest full of dinosaurs. The movie’s fresh premise really hit a nostalgic sweet spot - combining classic 80s Spielberg/Amblin family-adventure vibes (reminiscent of “Super 8” - highly recommended if you haven’t seen it by the way) with modern, edge of your seat tension.
Rather than a typical blockbuster action approach, the movie leans into survival horror and suspense. Dropping prehistoric predators directly into everyday domestic settings - like backyards, split-level homes and quiet streets - created a claustrophobic sense of peril that can be genuinely scary and thrilling.
Beyond the creative feature elements, the movie also does a decent job keeping its core family dynamics grounded. The survival struggle serves as an allegory for holding a family together, giving this adventure a surprisingly heartfelt emotional core.
While “The End of Oak Street” features quite a few moments that stand out, there’s one that really builds the suspense and if you don’t like snakes, you may not like this sequence. Rather than the typical raptor chase that we’re used to seeing from the “Jurassic” series, one of the most tense moments involves an enormous prehistoric snake winding its way through the narrow hallways and staircases of the Pratt’s family
home.
I really like how the sequence was framed with really tight, claustrophobic camera work as the family tiptoes around doors and furniture while the massive serpent slithers just inches away.
Even though the ending of the movie can be a nice way to wrap up the story, it sort of can defy logic and I won’t go into detail due to the fact that it will really spoil a lot of things. Maybe once the movie is available on streaming (SVOD), I’ll revisit this movie and work on a spoiler review.
The overall response to “The End of Oak Street” has been moderately positive but highly divided. While many viewers praise the movie as a thrilling, nostalgic throwback, others have expressed some confusion and frustration regarding its chaotic, sometimes logic-defying plot.
Cast: Anne Hathaway (Denise Platt); Ewan McGregor (Greg Platt); Maisy Stella (Audrey Platt); Christian Convery (Brian Platt); Jordan Alexa Davis (Jeannette Christianson); PJ Byrne (Mel Jacobs)
Writer/director: David Robert Mitchell (It Follows; Under the Silver Lake)
MPA: Rated PG-13 for some strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language and suggestive material (runtime 99 minutes)
Anne Hathaway was an admirer of David Robert Mitchell's work and said that wanting to work with him was a major reason she joined the film. Mitchell has said the project began to fall into place once Hathaway came aboard.
The giant snake seen in the film is Titanoboa, a real extinct genus of enormous snake that lived in northern South America approximately 60 million years ago, several million years after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.
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