Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor in The End of Oak Street movie
Maybe my problem was watching The Last House (Netflix) before walking into the theater to see The End of Oak Street. I couldn’t help but compare the two. But what The Last House lacks in gore and realistic-looking monsters, The End of Oak Street uses exceptionally well, especially with its life-like dinosaurs. And there are plenty of them.
The movie wasn’t nearly as frightening as I anticipated, but it certainly makes up for that with over-the-top violence, dismemberment and carnivorous prehistoric creatures in abundance. Add Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor desperately trying to keep their family alive, and The End of Oak Street becomes a wild, bloody two-hour ride that works best when you stop asking whether any of it makes sense.
Synopsis: 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.
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor Make the Terror Believable
The cast has some challenging work to do here. Having to convince us that they are truly terrified by what they’re seeing and living through is a job reserved for convincing actors, and Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor and the younger cast manage to pull it off impeccably. When you’re running from carnivorous prehistoric creatures, you’d better make us believe they’re actually there. Of course, as with any scary movie, there are moments of pure frustration as the characters go against all logic, making one bad decision after another. The audible gasps and frustrated groans from the theater audience confirmed I wasn’t the only one questioning their choices.
There are also a few welcome moments of levity to break up the intensity and violence. One scene (no spoilers) reminded me of that unexpected moment in Pulp Fiction when John Travolta’s character accidentally shoots the guy in the backseat. It’s shocking, but somehow the absurdity provokes laughter instead of horror. The End of Oak Street finds that same strange intersection between violence and humor a few times.
Dinosaurs, Gore and Plenty of Ridiculous Decisions
And then there’s the ridiculousness factor. Common sense is in short supply in The End of Oak Street. The characters repeatedly defy logic, make questionable decisions and apparently have no peripheral vision whatsoever, since they somehow fail to notice dinosaurs the size of skyscrapers approaching them until the creatures are practically on top of them.
Having kids riding around on bicycles while one attempts to fight a dinosaur with a bow and arrow takes the ridiculousness to another level. So does watching Ewan McGregor grab a bat (to fight off dinosaurs!) and run outside as if he were clad in head-to-toe armor. Or watching Anne Hathaway pick up a shotgun and try to kill a T-Rex, which, of course, doesn’t work. Because it’s a T-Rex.
The only one that behaves as expected is Starbuck, the family dog. He’s the unexpected hero of this clan.
Is The End of Oak Street Worth Seeing?
The audience actually clapped at the end of the film. I was stunned to hear it. But that reaction also told me exactly who this movie is for. Theatergoers looking for a rollicking good time, plenty of tense moments and two hours of entertainment without taking any of it too seriously will probably have a blast. That’s ultimately the best way to approach The End of Oak Street. Let go of logic, forget about serious expectations and just go along for the ride.
It feels as though J.J. Abrams brought the kids from Super 8 over to meet Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, threw in considerably more blood and violence, and somehow The End of Oak Street became their unruly baby. And considering how good both of those movies were, that’s not a bad family tree to come from.
Release Date: August 14, 2026
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour and 39 minutes (99 minutes)
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