After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.
What We Thought:
The End of Oak Street had potential to be a fantastic, nostalgia filled sci-fi flick for late GenXers and their kids. Set in the early 1980s, it 100% should be Jurassic Things (Jurassic Park meets Stranger Things), but the resulting film just isn’t that good. It’s not “So Bad It’s Good” either, it’s just sort of bad.
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor play husband and wife with two kids (one boy, one girl) in Suburban USA circa 1982. It opens with an All-American neighborhood block party with games and food and establishes the locality perfectly. If you grew up then you know the area. The parents have their issues. The kids have their own issues. It’s America, in the 80s. Then somehow (and I mean somehow, the film doesn’t exactly explain it very well) parts of their suburban neighborhood get brought back into the time of the dinosaurs. The family needs to figure out how to survive in a time without electricity, air conditioning and running water while trying to not get eaten alive by the giants roaming the Earth.
All of that should absolutely be right up my alley. I’m a late GenX kid. I’m a sci-fan. I’m a dinosaur fan. I like survival movies and movies about families sticking together to stay alive. All of this flick should be a homerun for me. It’s not. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I nitpick it. I wanted it to be Super 8. I wanted it to give me the nostalgic feels movies like The Sandlot and The Way Way Back give me. I wanted it to be good!
One of the major issues is that Anne Hathaway doesn’t feel nostalgic. It’s based in the early 80s, but her performance is very today. Ewan McGregor wears high tube socks and looks 80s. Hathaway looked like Bryce Dallas Howard or Scarlett Johansson taking on a T-Rex in a Jurassic World movie, not an 80s suburban mom trying to keep her family alive. The entire movie I felt like I was watching Anne Hathaway not Maggie Seaver or Elyse Keaton. I hate when movies based in a different era still feel like today with characters or substories that are absolutely intentionally put in there because they can’t help themselves.
There are parts of The End of Oak Street that are great. There is one kill that might make the movie watchable. The concept is absolutely brilliant. I just wish the movie itself was. Sure the average viewer won’t know that half of these dinosaurs didn’t even exist at the same time as others and I’m sure the average viewer wasn’t even alive when the film takes place, but for me it’s disappointing. I love movies and shows where kids get to be kids. They ride bikes and don’t live on phones and tablets. The kids here are solid characters making dumb kid decisions like going after a dog. The daughter character has a secret that’s clearly tacked on for a 2026 world that serves no real purpose in a freaking movie about a family trying not to get eaten by dinosaurs because again they just can’t help themselves. The movie could have been a surprise hit filled with nostalgia and fun characters, but it’s a swing and a miss for me.
Starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, THE END OF OAK STREET also stars Maisy Stella and Christian Convery. The film is written and directed by David Robert Mitchell and produced by J.J. Abrams, Hannah Minghella, Jon Cohen, David Robert Mitchell, Matt Jackson and Tommy Harper. The executive producers are Chris Bender, Jake Weiner, Joanne Lee and Leeann Stonebreaker.
Mitchell’s team behind the camera includes director of photography Michael Gioulakis, production designer Maya Shimoguchi, editor John Axelrad, composer Michael Giacchino and costume designer Erin Benach.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A Bad Robot Production, A Jackson Pictures Production, A David Robert Mitchell Film: THE END OF OAK STREET. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, only in theaters and IMAX in North America on August 14, 2026, and internationally beginning 12 August 2026.
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