The End of Oak Street unleashes dinosaurs

Set squarely in the 1980s, The End of Oak Street plays with the era’s clunky technology while dropping hungry dinosaurs into a quiet, family-friendly neighborhood. Writer-director David Robert Mitchell, best known in horror for It Follows, leans into an ’80s movie sensibility, with clear nods to Steven Spielberg and touches of Jurassic Park, E.T., and Poltergeist. Young teens play a big role in action, but top billing goes to Anne Hathaway and Ewen McGregor as parents who have to pull themselves together and save their family without any help from AI or the internet. Their daughter works out the basics: some kind of Carl Sagan-style traversable wormhole has opened on Oak Street, bringing prehistoric plants and wildlife along for the ride. The movie finds humor early, including a neighbor already angry about a dog using his yard as a bathroom. He gets even madder after discovering a much larger pile and calls it a mean prank, not realizing who just moved in. Those head-shaking laughs mix easily with suspense, especially when characters stay blissfully unaware of chaos unfolding right behind them. Wide-legged jeans, bold blouse patterns, and big-banged hairstyles all feel comic and fitting, while ’80s hits like Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and Jefferson Starship’s “Find Your Way Back” add little winks and a nostalgic backdrop. The look and sounds keep The End of Oak Street light on its feet, even when the dinosaur action turns seriously violent. The result is a fun chomp-romp—assuming, of course, you can laugh at reptilian dining habits