THE END OF OAK STREET (2026)

The unlikely combination of indie auteur David Robert Mitchell and blockbuster producer J.J. Abrams delivers monster movie magic with The End of Oak Street, an entertaining and intense blend of Spielbergian awe and Twilight Zone thrills.

Is The End of Oak Street the Poltergeist for a new era? Let me explain. In 1982, established wunderkind Steven Spielberg (Jaws) wrote and produced a supernatural thriller in which he brought on indie horror auteur Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) to direct, resulting in a box-office smash (and a scary movie to boot).

Fast-forward 44 years and here we have producer (and sometime director) J.J. Abrams (Super 8) and writer/director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) following the same formula with a sci-fi horror set in 1982. While box-office results are yet to be determined, the resulting film – The End of Oak Street - is indeed a highly entertaining and scary survival horror that successfully ushers Mitchell into the blockbuster world.

The End of Oak Street stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as Denise and Greg Platt (respectively), parents of teens Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), who find themselves at a crossroads regarding their marriage. A more dire threat to their middle-class existence emerges, however, when their suburb is inexplicably transported to prehistoric times; their once modern-day world besieged by various dinosaur beasts whose only objective is to feed on a new food source.

After the tiresome experience that is the Jurassic World sequels, the notion that dinosaurs could be scary – yet alone interesting – movie antagonists was as eye-rolling as they come. Yet much like the Luke Sparke director Primitive War of last year, The End of Oak Street successfully puts the terror back into T-Rex and friends.

From (accurately portrayed) feathered raptors to giant snake species the Titanoboa, the prehistoric monsters of Oak Street are a vicious, destructive, and even (at times) horny bunch of refreshingly savage beasts. There is no touching movie moment with a brontosaurus or trained raptors to be found here; only a cascade of carnivorous creatures feasting on 1980s man.

It is the writing and portrayal of the human stars that makes The End of Oak Street such a memorable place to visit. For any creature feature to work – especially giant monster films – there needs to be stakes at play at the ground level to engage our hearts as well as our eyes. Mitchell delivers on this crucial element by writing fleshed-out characters that make up this middle-class suburban family who learn to come together as their world is falling apart. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor are especially good as a married couple facing certain divorce only to resolidify their bond in the face of an extinction level event.

It all results in a film that while (yes) owes much to the adventure films of Steven Spielberg, reminds me of when blockbuster movies used to be both intimate and grandiose; a film inspired by blockbusters from the past that can teach a thing or two to the blockbusters of the present.