The End of Oak Street tries to channel Spielberg

David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under Silver Lake) wrote and directed this sci-fi dinosaur thriller about the Platt family—aspiring novelist Denise (Anne Hathaway), husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), and children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery)—who after some kind of cosmic event discovers their suburban neighborhood has been transplanted to a strange and dangerous place. Their only hope for survival is to work together. (99 min.)

Glen This film is going for full Spielberg. Set in 1982, it’s got that E.T. vibe right down to kids on Schwinn bicycles wearing tube socks. It even borrows tricks from Jaws. When Greg is being pursued by a dinosaur on the other side of a fence, you don’t see the animal, just the swing sets, lawn furniture, and trees it knocks into the air as it comes after him. There’s also a little Back to the Future vibe, and obviously Jurassic Park. There are dinosaurs, after all. There’s also family tension to deal with. Greg and Denise are having marital issues, and their kids know it, raising the emotional stakes of the story. The setup is effective, but once they’re all running for their lives, it begins to feel repetitive, as if the film has run out of things to say, but “Hey, here’s more dino action.” It does manage to throw one more surprise in the third act, and without it, I’d have said to skip this one, but it’s worth a matinee or at least a stream. 

Anna You can pretty much talk me into any movie if you mention there are dinosaurs. I mean, I’ve seen every Jurassic Park movie that’s part of the original franchise, even the truly terrible ones! That said, there must be more to a film than chomping monsters, and luckily for The End of Oak Street, we do manage to become invested in the Platt family’s fate. Younger brother Brian loves his dog Starbuck (played by good boy Brisket) and spends the film trying to find him in this new, terrifying world while also trying to dodge the revenge-seeking older brother of a kid who got injured by a dumb prank Brian played. It definitely has coming-of-age vibes for the kids, and the family itself is a very relatable snapshot of middle America. Dad is kind, but also kind of a drunk, and kind of bad at keeping a job. Mom is put upon and repressed and lives a fantasy life in the pages of the book she’s covertly writing. The dinos take a back seat as these characters get established, but once their world has shifted, the film becomes much more what you mentioned—running about, screaming each other’s names, and trying to outrun the new neighbors.

Glen I’ll also say, I’ve seen better CGI dinosaurs, and I prefer a mix of practical special effects with computer-created ones. About the closest we get is a massive mound of dino poop in the Platt’s douchey neighbor Mel’s (P.J. Byrne) backyard. There’re also some loose ends. For instance, after Audrey and Brian save their pretty new neighbor, Jeannette (Jordan Alexa Davis), who Brian’s been pining after, the love spark is between Jeannette and Audrey, not Brian, but that thread goes nowhere. This story could benefit from fine-tuning. 

Anna While bringing in Jeanette did give us another person to root for, in the end I’m not sure why the character was even there beyond that. As you said, it doesn’t really go anywhere. I think if you’ve got preteen or teen kids, this may be a fine family film to see as a matinee or put on your list to watch when it makes it to streaming—but there isn’t anything particularly special or “must-see” about it. ∆

Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Aug 20-27, 2026.