THE END OF OAK STREET (2026) – More Jurassic Park Than Jurassic Park!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
I knew End of Oak Street had something to do with dinosaurs, but I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be more Jurassic Park than Jurassic Park itself. With its almost relentless succession of dinosaur attacks, frantic chases and increasingly narrow escapes, the film turns out to be one of the most entertaining movie experiences I’ve had this year.
The film gets off to a surprisingly slow and, at times, rather off-putting start. We are introduced to the Platt family, a boring ordinary family living in a typical suburban neighbourhood. Their conversations and behaviour initially come across as cringey, artificial and perhaps even deliberately obnoxious. The family dynamics, particularly the difficulties between the husband and wife and their two teenage children, seem almost too familiar as we have seen this before in countless other movies. At first, I wondered whether this was simply poor writing. In retrospect, I suspect it was deliberate — because once the prehistoric creatures arrive, all those reservations are thrown completely out the door.
From that moment onwards, End of Oak Street becomes one harrowing escape after another. The chases, narrow escapes — and some not-so-narrow escapes — recall the sheer excitement of the early Jurassic Park movies. Director David Robert Mitchell understands that sometimes what you don’t see can be just as frightening as what you do. He cleverly uses the IMAX format effectively to give us wide shots that allow creatures to creep into the frame from the corners, sometimes appearing almost unnoticed. On several occasions, we see the danger approaching long before the characters do, creating that wonderful audience reaction where you just want to scream at the screen: “Turn around! It’s right behind you!”
Mitchell also knows how to build anticipation. Rather than immediately throwing every creature at us, he initially teases us with glimpses, shadows, noises and unexplained mayhem. The anticipation builds until we are finally rewarded with spectacular views of these prehistoric beasts — and, when they attack, there is surprisingly little restraint. The result is a film that constantly keeps you alert, waiting for the next creature to appear.
Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway are particularly well cast. Their chemistry makes the otherwise familiar setup of a husband and wife struggling with their marriage while trying to cope with two teenage children feel considerably more engaging than it might have been on paper. More importantly, the family undergoes a transformation along with the film. What initially seemed like an obnoxiously familiar and rather uninteresting suburban family gradually becomes a group of people we genuinely care about. By the end, we are emotionally invested in whether they will survive.
There is a very strong Spielberg influence throughout End of Oak Street, and that is undoubtedly intentional. The film feels like a loving throwback to the great summer blockbusters of the 1980s — films that understood how to combine spectacle, suspense, humour and genuine audience involvement. Thankfully, Mitchell pays tribute without simply copying the formula or allowing the nostalgia to overwhelm the film.
There is also something rather ironic about this. Spielberg himself recently attempted to recapture some of that old magic with Disclosure Day, yet for me, End of Oak Street manages to achieve what Spielberg’s own film failed to do. Perhaps this is a case of the student temporarily out-mastering the mentor.
End of Oak Street is one of the most entertaining films of the year so far — and a very welcome reminder of just how much fun a good old-fashioned summer blockbuster can be.
