The End of Oak Street (2026) Warner Bros./Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 99 minutes Rated PG-13 (some strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language, suggestive material) Director: David Robert Mitchell Screenplay: David Robert Mitchell Music: Michael Giacchino Cinematography: Michael Gioulakis Release date: August 14, 2026 (US) Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery, Jordan Alexa Davis, P.J. Byrne, Emily Kuroda, Anne Gee Byrd, Hudson Meek.
Rating: ***
If you ever wanted to see dinosaurs making whoopee, this is your chance!
As the summer nears its end, it’s time for studios to take out the trash. It happens every August. Among all the bad movies dumped in multiplexes, you can count on at least one that’s good dumb fun. This year, it’s The End of Oak Street, a supremely silly sci-fi-action-adventure set in a suburb right out of an 80s Spielberg movie. In it, a typical American nuclear family has to deal with the sudden appearance of prehistoric creatures in their otherwise safe and sedate neighborhood. I wonder what that’ll do to the property values.
It’s 1982 and the Platts are a family in crisis, domestic that is. Divorce is in the air for the parents. Denise (Hathaway, The Odyssey), unhappy for quite some time, is secretly writing a novel. Greg (McGregor, the Star Wars prequels) hasn’t told anybody he’s unemployed. He makes ends meet by delivering pizza. Teen daughter Audrey (Stella, My Old Ass), an astronomy buff, wants to go to Cornell, but her parents can’t afford it. 13YO brother Brian (Convery, Cocaine Bear) has been acting out lately. He also has a crush on the new kid on the block, private school girl Jeannette (Davis).
One night, a huge white light engulfs Oak Street. The power goes out. The Platts assume it’ll be back on in the morning. Oh, how wrong they are! Everything is far from normal the next day. They soon learn that the neighborhood is overrun with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. How is this possible? It’s some nonsense about a portal opening. While the creatures eat their neighbors, the family has to band together to survive while trying to find a way back to their own time.
Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows), The End of Oak Street is the kind of movie Amblin would have made with Spielberg serving as an executive producer only. It captures the same story beats without achieving the same emotional level as E.T. or Close Encounters. Not that it doesn’t try. It comes close a few times, but it doesn’t quite get there. It does, however, provide the same thrills as Jurassic Park with humans running for their lives from beasts they shouldn’t even be sharing the planet with. It also serves up a couple of good jump-scares. It even throws in some well-timed humor to keep viewers off-balance. It has the funniest dinosaur poop scene since Caveman (1981).
I’m sure you’re wondering about the special effects. A mix of CGI (the creatures) and practical (the sets), they’re very good. The prehistoric animals have a tangible quality to them. They don’t look like images from a computer at all. Mitchell pays special attention to period detail. Every house looks like it’s from the 80s from the interior décor to the products on the shelves. Then there’s the music. You get cuts from Pat Benatar (“Hit Me with Your Best Shot”), Steve Winwood (“Valerie”) and Roxy Music (“More Than This”). The teens often to listen to the music on Walkmans and you can’t get more 80s than that. The End of Oak Street is totally period authentic which is right seeing how it pays homage to that decade.
The cast does a good job because they know the material is totally nonsensical. They’re just having fun even when they try to add gravitas. Hathaway, who’s becoming quite the ubiquitous actress with her fourth film this year, does solid work as the unhappy wife and frightened mom forced into survival mode to protect her offspring. It’s interesting to see her as the mother of teens. Has it really been 25 years since The Princess Diaries? McGregor is also good as the husband/dad who tries to optimistic for his kids even though he knows it’s not likely to end well for them. Stella and Convery are a couple of up-and-comers who show they’ve got what it takes to make it in the industry.
Now comes the part you had to have known was coming. Do you know me? Hello! You no doubt know there’s a dog in The End of Oak Street. You saw him in the trailer. Some of you are worried that he might not make it until the end. Well, here’s the spoiler and it’s good news. The dog LIVES! He actually saves one of the kids from certain death. You’re welcome.
Theoretically, we go to the movies to have fun. Everybody needs an escape from reality. I’m pleased to report The End of Oak Street delivers it and then some. It’s a whole lot of goofball fun. I enjoyed it more than most of the big blockbuster movies. It’s just a fun ride through strange but familiar territory. It’s what I always wanted to see in a Jurassic sequel. That and dinosaurs getting it on.
