THE END OF OAK STREET (2026) REVIEW

Joshua Lightfoot

8/14/26

99 minutes

‍ ‍You remember the last 3 Jurassic World movies? Terrible, right? I’ve been trying to forget. We all know dinosaurs on the big screen can deliver the thrills and chills. We’ve seen that with Jurassic Park back in 1993, a movie so iconic that I still see people wearing shirts with the logo regularly. But what happened? Why was I not having fun? Is it because I’m getting old? Even the movie 65 (2023), which served as a Jurassic World alternative, really failed to impress. Dinosaurs are cool, but can we still put them in a movie and actually make it good? After sitting through The End of Oak Street, I was overcome with joy and excitement. Take note, Colin Trevorrow. This is how you do it.

The Platt Family is going through a rough patch. Denise Platt (played by Anne Hathaway in her 4th movie this year!) is working on becoming a writer but is contemplating a divorce from her husband. That husband, Greg (played by Ewan McGregor), lost his full-time job and is trying to make ends meet as a pizza delivery driver. Their son, Brian (played by Christian Convery), is an awkward teenager and is having a difficult time with a local bully. The daughter, Audrey (Maisy Stella), feels like is in the movie simply for “checkbox filmmaking” reasons. We are also introduced to a few side characters. The first and most important is the Platt Family dog Starbuck, who could be the glue holding the family together. The unpleasant neighbor, Mel (played by P.J. Byrne), has a serious problem with Starbuck tearing up his yard. We are also introduced to the new local, Jeannette, who goes to a private school and is mostly kept to herself.

‍ ‍When the family awakens after a bad storm the electricity is knocked out, the water has stopped running, and their dog Starbuck is missing. When the family goes searching for their dog, they immediately realize something is off. The neighborhood of Oak Street is surrounded by a prehistoric landscape and a change in atmospheric pressure. Emerging from this new change in scenery are dinosaurs. Lots of them. They are ferocious, and hungry. Chaos ensues, and the local residents attempt to flee in terror only for many of them to meet their unfortunate demise. Can the Platt Family work together to accomplish the impossible by figuring a way out alive?

‍ ‍The Cretaceous period is brought to the 1980’s in The End of Oak Street. It really does have that authentic 80’s feel. For starts, the look of the movie appears to have been shot on film, rather than digital. White speckles and film grain is apparent if you look hard enough. The overall tone is a clear callback to director Steven Spielberg’s early years as a filmmaker. Obvious examples displayed are the dinosaurs of course, and exploring the unknown in a Sci-Fi fashion. Deeper examples include the importance of childhood, suburban life, struggling relationships, and a family bonding together to face an almost impossible task. It’s the most Steven Spielberg movie to not be directed by Steven Spielberg since Super 8 (2011) I think. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise since Super 8 was directed by J.J. Abrams, who serves as a producer.

My only real problem involves some of the character moments. You guys know there’s dinosaurs running around, right? Why are you standing around outside and talking? It was obviously wiser to stick together as a group, so why are you not doing that? Creating backstory for some of the characters halfway in does halt things a bit, especially in a setting filled with death and dinosaurs. Like actors on an empty set where CGI would be added later, clueless of their surroundings. The movie already does a pretty good job getting the characters, story, and connections out of the way early. Some might feel it starts slow, but I beg to differ. The build-up is necessary because it makes the pay-off satisfying.

‍ ‍Oak Street was given a PG-13 rating by the MPAA for “strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language, and suggestive material”. I had to check the rating for myself after leaving the theater. I thought “this movie is holding back a bit on the violence”. To my surprise, this movie isn’t Rated R. The PG-13 rating is pushed to its absolute max limit. Again, like with Steven Spielberg’s older movies, that PG rating was pushed to extreme lengths. Remember the melting faces and exploding heads in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), or every shark attack scene in Jaws (1975)? They stopped just short of an R rating. Amazing how he got away with that. In what feels like another nod to Spielberg, the violence in The End of Oak Street is shocking and merciless at times. The rating push and cruel nature of the violence give this movie a real sense of unpredictability. Something that, I cannot stress enough, was severely lacking in the last several Jurassic World movies.

‍ ‍OVERALL

‍ The End of Oak Street is the unofficial Jurassic Park sequel we have been waiting for. No locust, penciled-in legacy characters, aimless last-minute decisions. Just pure old-fashioned fun. It’s scary with an actual real sense of danger. I’m please to say that dinosaurs on the big screen are finally great again. This is being advertised for IMAX screens, but The Odyssey is still selling out at my local theater. After which, I’m sure it will move on with a last chance hurrah for Spider-man. A bit of a shame. Don’t sit on this one.

RATING

***1/2 out of 5