The End of Oak Street Movie Review

This has a great premise. It’s rated PG-13, but even with that age considered, take the kids to see this for family movie night​

You, and they, will all have a good time… as I did when I saw “Jaws” at seven and many youngsters saw “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and other such films that may have had language and violence when they were much younger than thirteen. This happened because the Motion Picture Association of America, the MPAA, hadn’t come up with the PG-13 rating yet. Watching it will give families a combined jump scare and something to talk about for days after, because it’s a little darker than an eleven-year-old is used to seeing, but not something they couldn’t handle if they play video games. Often, you only know what’s going on by the shaking of a fence or a bush or a tree falling down. A lot of what’s going on is in your mind, not on screen. Brilliant.

But then, a dinosaur chomping on a person in the background or chasing someone down the street is nothing compared to what a video game has already come up with. This movie is what I’d consider “Jurassic Park” meets “Goonies” and a very entertaining family show. And a crazy, amusing dinosaur movie is just what 2026 needs to take your mind off of things.

Anne Hathaway is terrific here. Typical, I know. You’d think she’d be a mess starring in so many movies this year, including “The Odyssey,” but if she is, she doesn’t show it. Her character, Denise, in “The End of Oak Street” is very strong, not only for herself but also for her family and everyone who needs her help. She saves herself and everyone she can from being eaten by, guess what… yep, a giant T-Rex, something the mother of two never thought she’d have to do. She’s writing a book that hints at marital issues with her husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), but she holds it together when tested as she never expected to be.

Totally unaware of why this is happening, their Carl Sagan-reading daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella) has a suggestion. This has only happened in their neighborhood. How? Why? Did they happen to go through a portal, a wormhole? If so, they’re in the past. Her parents believe it sounds reasonable… but if true, how to get back, and will it be possible? Their son Brian (Christian Convery) worries about everything, but not half as much as he does the family dog who has run off. He’ll get himself killed just to find his fur baby.

Everyone is being chased by meat-eaters, and around them are the bodies of neighbors who weren’t as lucky as they have been. They stumble upon something that may help them. This is when the movie intensifies and ups its game on the visuals, which are striking. The entire audience takes a collective gasp that’ll shake and surprise you during that certain moment. But I’ll let you discover on your own.

The movie is somewhat formulaic, but it’s a lot of fun and worth going to see because writer/director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) fills this enjoyable film with a touch of everything that will entertain you and your family, giving you something to talk about over pizza later.