The End of Oak Street (2026)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
David Robert Mitchell reminds us why he is such an effective storyteller, staging this sci-fi/horror/thriller hybrid with great suspense and technical mastery.
Anne Hathaway is so great here as a mother desperate to protect her family from what closes in around her.
Starts with a Spielberg-like nostalgia and evolves into a nasty, somewhat mean-spirited creature feature that pushes to the limits of a PG-13 rating.
NO
The film is, at its core, a domestic drama, that provides tension, suspense, and carnage as metaphors for the fear of “what may be out there for us.” The melodrama may interfere for some who want more dinosaurs.
Even at a crisp and efficient 99 minutes, we could probably do with one or two less human-vs.-creature battle sequences.
While the dog does not die, some will take issue with it being left outside as a pet. In other scenes, those sensitive to seeing/hearing animals in peril or victimized, may want to take caution before watching the film.
OUR REVIEW
One of the summer’s biggest surprises, The End of Oak Street may have initially seemed like a throwaway August studio release, but perhaps we have all underestimated everyone involved with this.
Writer/director David Robert Mitchell first burst into the mainstream with his sophomore effort, the terrifying 2014 horror film It Follows, it has been some time since he last made a feature. After his third film, Under the Silver Lake, failed to find an audience in 2018, he seemingly stepped away from filmmaking. Now, with The End of Oak Street, he comes roaring back literally and figuratively. Full of thrills, gripping suspense, a fair amount of humor, and scenes of carnage that push the very boundaries of what is permissible in a PG-13 film, I had an absolute blast watching this with an audience.
The poster reveals what this actually is: a science-fiction horror film about a family of four, who, at least as shown on the official poster, find themselves staring at a massive dinosaur, with its jaw slightly open, ready to chomp down on them. So, yes, The End of Oak Street is a dinosaur movie. And while the logic and science of how dinosaurs end up terrorizing a residential neighborhood in Michigan is never truly explored, this might be the best dinosaur flick since a guy named Spielberg introduced us to the world of Jurassic Park in 1993.
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor star as Denise and Greg Platt, parents to two teenage kids, Audrey (Maisy Stella), and Brian (Christian Convery). It’s 1982. Denise and Greg are not getting along, and fractures have been forming for some time. Staying together for the kids, Audrey and Brian are starting to sense a fraying between Mom and Dad. They are worried.
Mitchell builds layers to this. While eventually dinosaurs will ransack this neighborhood, the fear of what you can’t control hangs heavily over everyone. The main characters share an uncertainty around honesty and trust. You can see characters asking themselves whether they can survive with someone they may not fully trust. Then comes an even more frightening question: what would it mean if I were truly all alone?
As we learn, each member of the Platt family harbors a secret of some kind and we get the sense that, should Denise or Greg make one mistake, everything could implode for the family at any given moment.
Hathaway conveys these feelings with raw, blistering emotion. McGregor is great as the “trying my best here” father figure, who is ashamed and afraid of letting his family down. What’s clear is that they both love their children. But Denise feels lost and unseen, adrift and wanting more from Greg than he seems able to give her.
When intensely bright lights begin appearing in the Platts’ Michigan neighborhood, at least the first few times, the Platts ignore it. However, one afternoon, Audrey sees something unnatural in the nearby woods. We hear horrifying shouting and monstrous noises in the distance. And after another bright light attack, the neighborhood has inexplicably wormholed into a prehistoric landscape, with dinosaurs and beasts of all kinds walking, slithering, and flying around, ready to feed on anything that moves.
Almost immediately, Mitchell shows us he is not playing nice with his characters. And for a PG-13 movie, this is a very bloody, somewhat gnarly viewing experience. When a dinosaur gets hold of someone, it’s pretty much over for them in brutal fashion. The film has a cruelty about it that is somehow both refreshing and a bit shocking at the same time.
Really what sets this apart from most other movies in this genre is Mitchell’s attention to detail. He keeps the world alive around his characters in ways many filmmakers wouldn't bother attempting. As you watch the Platts find ways to survive, or are forced to walk or drive somewhere in their neighborhood, keep an eye on the background and corners of many of the scenes. Something’s always happening and that detail-driven focus makes The End of Oak Street full of discoveries.
There is always something: a long-tailed beast strolling by. Something scurrying quickly low to the ground. Vicious danger lurks everywhere. The audience I watched this with ate up every well-timed jump scare and each moment where Mitchell lets the suspense build nearly to the breaking point.
Similarly to how he approached It Follows, Mitchell also has the ability to let his visual presentation enhance his written words. That fear of loneliness becomes even more pronounced as the Platts walk through the neighborhood at night, trying to find someone who has gone missing. The emotions that exist in the quiet moments are more intense than those filled with action and mayhem.
The visual effects are impressive and the sound design is incredible, especially in a big, loud theatrical setting. Even if the film has perhaps one too many human-vs.-dinosaur battles, The End of Oak Street is not afraid to take risks and let the reality of the fantasy take over.
From its throwback Spielbergian start to its increasingly violent action sequences, The End of Oak Street is smarter, more thoughtful, more mean-spirited and, in turn, a lot more fun than anyone could have expected.
David Robert Mitchell may have delivered the surprise movie event of the summer.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery, Jordan Alexa Davis, P.J. Byrne, Emily Kuroda, Hudson Meek, Anne Gee Byrd
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Written by: David Robert Mitchell
Release Date: August 14, 2026
Warner Bros.