'The End of Oak Street' Review
- Cassandra Hager
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 08/14/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Action. Adventure. Mystery. SciFi. Thriller.
MPAA: Rated PG13.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
The Verdict: A Must-See
The End of Oak Street seemed to come out of nowhere, didn’t it? Who knew Anne Hathaway had another summer 2026 in her after the back-to-back successes of The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Odyssey? The retro, Spielberg-esque tale tells the story of a family thrown into a tailspin after a time warp takes them to the prehistoric era. But don’t mistake it for a feel- good film. The movie left me stunned and at times a little perplexed by its jaw-dropping dino-violence.
The film is set in 1982, a detail made clear right away through the cars, fashion, and wholesome block-party backdrop. Denise (Hathaway) is the picture-perfect mom, though her marriage to Greg (Ewan McGregor) is strained. Daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella) and son Brian (Christian Convery) can tell something is wrong, even if their parents try to hide it. Long, meandering camera shots lull you into a false sense of security, and the chaos that will soon unfold makes marital troubles feel like a trip to Disneyland.
Money troubles and neighborhood squabbles become irrelevant when a mysterious time portal sends the entire block back to the age of dinosaurs—and these creatures are anything but friendly. The film’s turn from lighthearted setup to graphic violence is jarring, with neighbors being torn apart by bloodthirsty prehistoric beasts. There are brief breaks from the gore, including a juvenile joke about dinosaur sex and a vague romance subplot between Audrey and a neighbor girl that feels unexplored and, frankly, unnecessary given everything else happening. Hathaway rocks as a mom fighting to keep her kids safe, while McGregor’s performance stands out for the wrong reasons: his suburban American dad feels miscast, and his shaky accent is hard to ignore.
The world-building in The End of Oak Street is top-notch, with the set design and costuming making me yearn for an '80s time warp. Some of the violence feels unnecessarily cruel (think Jurassic World) and the movie’s ending left me scratching my head the longer I thought about it. It’s far from perfect, but one thing’s for sure: The End of Oak Street is anything but boring.
