Having not helmed a film in eight years the last genre you might expect the director of subversive horror film, ‘It Follows’ to come back with is Spielbergian type dinosaur romp ‘The End of Oak Street’ but that’s what David Robert Mitchell has done and comes from JJ Abrams production company whose own oeuvre owes much to Spielberg also.
Set in 1982 suburbia an emasculated Dad Ewan McGregor now scrapes a living delivering pizzas whilst mum Anne Hathaway (in her fourth film this year and there’s more from her to come before the 2026 is out) is a frustrated author writing an autobiographical book about a mum wanting to leave her husband and two teenage kids Brian (Christian Convery) and Audrey (Maisy Stella) and the family dog called Starbucks presumably because he doesn’t pay tax either.
What’s at the The End of Oak Street?
But when the weather becomes uncharacteristically humid, long extinct plants pop up and enormous piles of poo that can’t be blamed on the neighbour’s cat are found in back gardens then something is afoot. And that mystery turns out to see their neighbourhood plonked into the middle of a dino riddled era that’s never convincingly explained
Playing like Jurassic Park (Jurassic Street?) with a touch of Jumanji Mitchell has conjured up some decent, gruesome and effective set pieces that are frequently better than those in the Jurassic films and with that franchise looking for a new director for an eighth film this would seem to be an ideal calling card. Mitchell also throws in several unexpected moments (two rutting dinosaurs that’s like Peter Stringfellow in a porn scene) and a decent unexpected twist that then doesn’t have the courage to stick with. But that aside, The End of Oak Street plays like a superior version of Jurassic Park 2 surbruban set third act and is an enjoyable watch that’s sure to be the sleeper hit of the summer.
related feature : Machine gunning dinosaurs – Jeremy Piven talks ‘Primitive War’ !
related feature : It Follows – LIMITED EDITION 4K UHD / BLU-RAY
Here’s the trailer……
