Review | The End of Oak Street (2026)

David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street is a Dino-delight. Convenient plot points aside, the film delivers a classic sci-fi spectacle that doubles down on the dino carnage and well-placed jump scares. Chilling, intense, and nerve-shredding, it’s extinct fun.

There’s something about a dinosaur movie that gets the juices flowing. Whether it’s Spielberg’s legendary Jurassic Park or one of its many sequels, and even a Vietnam War-inspired dino-flick, magic happens when those prehistoric beasts run rampant across the cinema screen. So, when director David Robert Mitchell decides to throw his hat into the dinosaur ring, our excitement levels immediately hit top speed. After all, what could possibly go wrong when you mix a talented filmmaker with a bunch of enormous, hungry reptiles?

Enter The End of Oak Street. Touted as a throwback to the classic Amblin era, the film arrives armed with all the ingredients we love: a stellar cast, an intriguing sci-fi mystery, plenty of suspense, and more jump scares than you can throw a Velociraptor at. With Hollywood heavyweights Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor leading the charge, and Warner Bros. backing Mitchell’s prehistoric vision, the ingredients are certainly there for a brand-new Jurassic classic.

But can Mitchell hit the ground running with this prehistoric walk in the park? Or has The End of Oak Street bitten off more than it can chew? There’s only one way to find out!

REVIEW

Fear not, sci-fi fans, because David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street is a dino delight. Convenient plot points and formulaic tools aside, the film delivers a classic sci-fi spectacle that doubles down on the dino carnage and well-placed jump scares. Chilling, intense, and nerve-shredding, it’s extinct fun. Sadly, there are a few bumps in the road that prevent the film from reaching the dizzying heights of the very best dinosaur adventures, but they never derail the fun. The End of Oak Street manages to be as engrossing as Jurassic Park, as visceral as Primitive War, and as awe-inspiring as The Lost World while carving out an identity of its own.

Ultimately, moviegoers can look forward to a thrilling prehistoric adventure packed with ferocious beasts, family heart, plenty of scares, and a generous helping of classic Amblin-style magic. So, grab the biggest bucket of popcorn you can find, brace yourself for some serious dino mayhem, and experience this one where it belongs: on the big screen!

DINO-DISASTER

For his dino adventure, Mitchell takes us back to the 1980s, long before smartphones, social media, and the internet put the entire world at our fingertips. And honestly, what a joy that is. By stripping away our modern-day technological safety net, The End of Oak Street instantly feels like a throwback to the good old days of old-school adventure cinema, when Indiana Jones was cracking his whip and getting himself into trouble all over the globe.

The period setting gives the film a wonderful sense of nostalgia, while also forcing its characters to rely on their wits rather than simply reaching for a smartphone. It’s a lovingly crafted time capsule that captures the spirit of classic sci-fi and adventure movies, and fans of that golden era should feel right at home. From the opening moments, the film feels like a product of Amblin: whimsical in its storytelling, grounded in reality, and utterly engrossing.

FAMILY ISSUES

At the heart of the film is the Platt family, led by the terrific Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor. As Denise and Gregg, the pair provide a strong emotional anchor for the story, giving audiences characters they can genuinely invest in long before the dinosaurs start turning up for dinner.

Their strained marriage sits at the center of the narrative, creating an intriguing contrast with the warm, close-knit neighborhood surrounding them. That tension inevitably spills over to their teenage children, Audrey and Brian, played by Maisy Stella and Christian Convery, and the result is a family dynamic that feels surprisingly relatable beneath all the prehistoric chaos. We find ourselves rooting for Denise and Gregg to put their differences aside and rediscover what brought them together in the first place. Their fractured relationship becomes the emotional backbone of the adventure, giving the dino mayhem a little extra bite.

Beyond the Platts, however, most of the supporting characters are essentially along for the ride—either serving the plot or, more often than not, looking suspiciously like dinosaur dinner. That leaves much of the heavy lifting to Hathaway and McGregor, and thankfully, both are more than up to the task. Hathaway, in particular, delivers a sensational performance, bringing plenty of heart, determination, and emotional weight to the chaos unfolding around her. When your co-stars include several dozen hungry dinosaurs, that’s no small feat!

EWAN’S GONE WALKING!

Surprisingly, the usually dependable Ewan McGregor feels somewhat out of step with the material here. As the story progresses, Gregg increasingly takes a back seat to Hathaway’s Denise, leaving McGregor with considerably less room to make an impact. To be fair, this is partly dictated by the plot, and his character’s diminished presence serves a purpose within the story. But when you have an actor of McGregor’s caliber in your cast, you can’t help but wish the material gave him more to sink his teeth into.

That isn’t to say McGregor phones it in entirely. He brings his usual charm and professionalism to the role and manages to squeeze plenty out of what he’s given. Unfortunately, the character never quite reaches the heights you might expect from an actor with his pedigree. By the time the credits roll, it feels like McGregor has been left circling the runway while Hathaway gets to take center stage. He certainly isn’t wasted, but The End of Oak Street ultimately feels like a missed opportunity to give one of its biggest stars a role worthy of his considerable talents.

MONSTERS ON THE LOOSE

But let’s face it, the real stars of the show are the dinosaurs, and they waste no time making their presence felt. The moment the street is catapulted into the past, the prehistoric party gets underway. There’s no lengthy scientific explanation for the sudden time displacement—it simply happens, and we’re left to pick up the pieces alongside the terrified residents. If you’re expecting a Jurassic Park-style adventure where scientists spend hours explaining the mechanics of time travel, think again. The End of Oak Street isn’t interested in holding your hand. It throws you into the deep end and lets the dinosaurs do the talking.

And that’s where the film really comes alive. The second the street is displaced, the entire atmosphere changes. The power goes out, the water stops running, and the familiar comforts of modern life disappear in an instant. What was once a safe, sleepy suburban neighborhood suddenly becomes an isolated prison surrounded by a prehistoric wilderness—and unfortunately for its residents, the neighbors outside have teeth. Mitchell leans into that premise with gusto, turning everyday suburban life into a full-blown survival nightmare.

DINO-DELIGHT!

From roaming raptors to high-flying pterosaurs, the streets are soon crawling with prehistoric trouble. Enormous herbivores lumber through the neighborhood, casually crashing through houses as they search for food. At the same time, cars are trampled, family pets find themselves unexpectedly promoted to the bottom of the food chain, and the bigger carnivores quickly decide that humans look like a rather tasty alternative.

Unlike the Jurassic saga, however, Mitchell takes his suburban time machine back to the Jurassic Period, long before the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex ruled the roost. So, if you’re waiting for Rexy to stomp into the neighborhood, you’re going to be disappointed. This is a different prehistoric playground, and Mitchell is more than happy to populate it with a chaotic assortment of dinosaurs.

In fact, historical accuracy and scientific precision are very much left at the cinema door. The film gleefully throws dinosaurs from completely different eras into the same prehistoric melting pot. We get a Jurassic-era Allosaurus and Stegosaurus sharing the spotlight before a Cretaceous-era Spinosaurus arrives to steal the show, while Triceratops can be spotted roaming in the distance. It’s a wonderfully bonkers collection of creatures that existed millions of years apart, but who cares when they’re this much fun?

CRETACEOUS CARNAGE?

Like the classic adventures released under the Amblin banner, once the dinosaurs arrive, all hell breaks loose—and suddenly nobody in the neighborhood is safe. While terrified residents scramble to deal with the prehistoric crisis literally banging on their doors, Denise and Gregg have another battle on their hands: keeping their already-fractured family from falling apart.

As the pressure mounts, long-buried home truths begin to surface, putting even more strain on their relationship. With survival now the name of the game, the couple quickly find themselves divided over how best to protect their family. Gregg turns to faith, believing that God will intervene and guide them through the crisis, while Denise takes a far more practical approach, focusing on gathering food, supplies, and whatever weapons she can find.

It’s an interesting clash of survival philosophies that gives the film an unexpected layer of realism. There’s no right or wrong answer when dinosaurs are stomping around your front garden, after all. As the family struggles to adapt to their extraordinary new reality, audiences are encouraged to consider what they would do in the same situation. Would you pray for a miracle, raid the local hardware store, or simply hide under the bed and hope the dinosaurs move on?

CINEMATOGRAPHY

To bring this adventure to life, Mitchell has turned to cinematographer Michael Gioulakis, who jumps in two-footed to flesh out the amalgamation between the Jurassic period and modern suburbia. The result is a bleak but picturesque spectacle that rivals anything its predecessors can muster. The atmosphere is charged with darkness, terror, and eerie scenes that make for compelling viewing. Mitchell, to his credit, uses darkness, shadows, and eerie stillness to keep the tension simmering, often letting the dinosaurs lurk just out of sight before unleashing them at precisely the right moment. A creature stalking someone from the other side of a garden fence or a set of enormous claws suddenly emerging from the darkness becomes an invitation to hide behind your popcorn. The result is a treasure trove of well-timed jump scares that keeps the audience scanning every doorway, window, and shadow for the next prehistoric surprise.

This is old-school genre filmmaking at its finest. Mitchell understands that sometimes the best way to frighten an audience is to make them wait for the monster to appear, and that restraint pays dividends. The film builds an atmosphere of constant dread while allowing the dinosaurs to remain genuine threats rather than simply CGI window dressing.

DINO-SCORE

Complementing the film’s ominous tone is a restrained score from dinosaur-movie veteran Michael Giacchino. Unlike his more bombastic work on the Jurassic World films, Giacchino takes a much quieter approach here, allowing the visuals and atmosphere to take center stage. The music does its job, but it rarely demands attention of its own, functioning more as a supporting player than a headline act.

It’s a perfectly serviceable score, but perhaps surprisingly forgettable given the talent behind it. For a composer of Giacchino’s caliber, you might expect the music to linger long after the credits roll. Here, however, it mostly slips into the background, quietly doing its job while the dinosaurs steal the spotlight.

DINO-DETRACTIONS

For all its prehistoric triumphs, The End of Oak Street is ultimately held back by a handful of frustrating shortcomings. None of them completely derail the adventure, but together they prevent Mitchell’s dinosaur romp from becoming the modern classic it occasionally threatens to be.

The biggest issue is the screenplay’s reliance on convenient plot points and familiar genre shortcuts. Mitchell has created a wonderfully dangerous world, yet the story occasionally seems determined to find the easiest possible escape route. From the heroic family dog, Starbuck, to conveniently discovered ways of getting home, the film repeatedly reaches into its bag of narrative tricks whenever the characters find themselves in a particularly sticky situation. It makes the journey feel a little too predictable, with the story simply plodding toward an inevitable conclusion rather than offering anything genuinely surprising to sink our teeth into.

FINALE

And then there’s the finale. Oh, what could have been!

The film spends so much time building an atmosphere of dread that the final act feels primed to deliver something truly spectacular. There are opportunities for genuine shock, awe, emotional devastation, and even a few wonderfully bonkers twists. Instead, Mitchell opts for the safest possible route, and the result feels strangely tame compared with everything that came before it. Sadly, the film’s finale lacks conviction and plays it safe, delivering a climax that never really hits home.

It’s a real shame because the foundations for a knockout finale are all there. The film has earned its big moment, but when the time comes to unleash the beast, it pulls its punches. Thankfully, the underwhelming conclusion doesn’t completely spoil the adventure that came before it, but it does take some of the wind out of its sails. After all that prehistoric chaos, I wanted the finale to leave me roaring with excitement—not quietly wondering what might have been, and that is my biggest complaint.

VERDICT

Overall, The End of Oak Street is a roaring good time that comes frustratingly close to being something truly special. David Robert Mitchell has crafted a wonderfully nostalgic throwback to the 1980s Amblin era, complete with eerie suburban landscapes, creeping dread, old-school scares, and enough prehistoric mayhem to keep the popcorn flying.

Yes, the film has its fair share of bumps in the road. The convenient plot devices and underwhelming finale prevent it from reaching the dizzying heights of the very best dinosaur adventures. But when the dinosaurs are this impressive, and the atmosphere is this deliciously creepy, it’s difficult not to have a roaring good time. Ultimately, it delivers a sensational trip through a Jurassic landscape, featuring some of the most compelling dinosaur action since the original Jurassic Park. And honestly, that’s about as high a compliment as I can give it. So grab your popcorn and settle in for a chilling ride with true bite.

It may not be a Jurassic Classic, but it’s definitely a dino-delight!

The End of Oak Street stomps into cinemas on Friday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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