The End of Oak Street Review: Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor Anchor a Wildly Unexpected Family Survival Thriller

The End of Oak Street completely caught me off guard, and I mean that in the best way. This is my review of the film, and I am telling you right now that the dinosaur twist you saw in the trailer is honestly the least of your worries once you actually sit down and watch this thing.

The premise is simple enough on paper: a mysterious event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports the whole neighborhood somewhere unknown. The Platt family soon realizes their survival depends on sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings. When I first saw the trailer, I was immediately intrigued, because what do you mean their entire neighborhood moved somewhere different?

The Trailer and Poster Already Hint at Dinosaurs, and I Worried That Spoiled the Movie

One of my main issues with the trailer is that I thought it gave too much away. Looking back at the film after watching it, I also noticed the marketing very specifically placed certain things in the posters. Some of the posters show that the neighborhood is not only transported somewhere unknown, but that the family is also essentially coexisting with dinosaurs, and one of the posters actually has a dinosaur on it. My first thought was that it was interesting, and my second thought was, wait, did they just give away the whole twist? That is genuinely what I thought going into the film.

I want to be clear for anyone who has seen the trailer, since I will be referring to it in this review, so consider this your spoiler warning if you have not seen it yet. Once I actually watched the movie, I realized there is so much more that I did not see coming. In my words, "The dinosaurs is like the least of your worries."

The Movie Leans Into an Amblin, Spielberg-Style Vibe Set in the 1980s

This is very much a family survival movie, similar in spirit to A Quiet Place but given a completely different scenario. The vibe leans more Amblin, very Spielbergy, and I liked that a lot. I also appreciated that it is set in a specific period, the 1980s, where the family cannot just hop on the internet or pull out a smartphone to solve problems. That choice made the film feel refreshing to watch, because the characters cannot just turn on GPS and figure out where they are. They have to survive without power and without phone signals.

Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor Bring Real Depth to the Family Dynamic

Since this is a family survival film, the family dynamic matters just as much as the survival plot itself. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor play the mom and dad, and their chemistry on screen is fantastic. The dynamic between these two characters goes much deeper than just a happy suburban family of four. There are layers to how a family presents itself publicly to the neighborhood versus what is actually happening behind closed doors, and the movie digs into that. Amid all the chaos of having their entire neighborhood ripped away and dropped somewhere unknown, this family is also already dealing with personal issues of their own.

The Survival Theme Escalates as the Family Realizes They Are in a Different World and Time

The main theme of this movie is survival, survival, survival. Everything keeps escalating from the moment the family realizes they are not just displaced from their neighborhood, but in a different world, in a different time, surrounded by dinosaurs.

A Trigger Warning for Pet Lovers: The Family Dog Storyline Will Cause Anxiety

This movie is a lot more graphic than I expected. I know the trailer hinted at it a bit, but certain moments genuinely surprised me with how brutal they got. I want to issue a trigger warning here for anyone who has pets, because the family does have a dog, and that dog serves bits and pieces of the plot as things move forward. What I quickly realized is that no one in the family except for one person actually cares for the dog. The family treats the dog almost like an afterthought, and as a pet lover and dog lover myself, that bothered me. I could hear it in the audience too, people reacting with, well, what about the dog? I am not going to give anything away, but just know the situation with the dog will give you some anxiety.

The Horror and Thriller Elements Are Higher Than Expected, Though Not as Scary as A Quiet Place

As far as the horror thriller elements go, they are higher than what I was expecting, though I would not say it is as scary as A Quiet Place. I keep referencing that film because it is another family survival movie that works as a good comparison point. There are jump scares here, but because the creatures are dinosaurs rather than unknown alien type creatures, I actually think that makes it feel different from A Quiet Place, since dinosaurs are something we have already seen before in things like Jurassic Park, and there are certain moments that reminded me of that film specifically. Again, thanks to that Amblin inspired vibe, I liked that the movie was not dependent on current pop culture references or the constant use of technology, smartphones, and the internet.

You Have to Suspend Your Disbelief, Especially in the Third Act

With The End of Oak Street, because it blends sci-fi, thriller, and horror elements, you do have to suspend your disbelief, especially in the third act. Once you watch it, you will know exactly what I mean, and you will likely be asking yourself, "How does this work?" You either resist it or you go with it. For me, I enjoyed the movie a lot. I really liked these characters, and the film makes you feel invested in all four family members and parts of the community, so that by the end you are willing to buy in.

My Verdict: A Matinee Worth Catching

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by The End of Oak Street. I think it was a lot more wild and unexpected than I was expecting, even after seeing the trailer and seeing the dinosaurs. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor are really fantastic to watch in this one. It is Anne Hathaway's year, she has been in so many movies, and she is dynamic here as well. I am giving The End of Oak Street a Matinee.

Do you think the dinosaur reveal in the trailer spoiled too much, or were you as surprised as I was by everything else this movie has in store?