THE END OF OAK STREET (2026)

Genre: Sci-fi/Thriller
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery, Jordan Alexa Davis, P. J. Byrne 
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 August 2026

Synopsis: After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.

Movie Review:

There was laughter during the preview screening when a major character gets eaten by a dinosaur. This reviewer admits he had the urge to laugh too, although he wasn't quite sure whether that was what director David Robert Mitchell intended. The moment nevertheless evoked an instant sense of nostalgia, taking this writer back to Jurassic Park (1993) and that infamous scene where the cowardly lawyer Donald Gennar meets his grisly end while hiding in a toilet cubicle.

If nothing else, The End of Oak Street understands that watching people get eaten by dinosaurs can be both terrifying and oddly entertaining.

The film follows the Platt family — Greg (Ewan McGregor), Denise (Anne Hathaway) and their children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery) — whose quiet suburban existence is suddenly upended when a mysterious cosmic event rips their neighbourhood from suburbia and transports it to a strange prehistoric world. With no electricity, familiar surroundings or easy way home, the family must stick together as dinosaurs begin roaming the streets and turning their once-safe neighbourhood into a survival zone.

t is a wonderfully simple premise, and the movie makes the most of it. The End of Oak Street is an enjoyable ride from beginning to end, with just enough thrills to keep you sitting forward in your seat. The violence is restrained enough for younger audiences and families who enjoy dinosaur adventures to still have a good time without being subjected to excessive gore.

Some of the best moments come from the way the dinosaurs invade ordinary suburban spaces. One particularly nerve-wracking sequence sees a slimy, snake-like creature enter through a upper-storey window before sliding through rooms, down the stairs and into the kitchen, passing several unsuspecting characters along the way. The camera patiently follows its movement while the humans remain oblivious, creating an almost unbearable sense of anticipation. It is a reminder that sometimes the most effective way to frighten an audience is simply to make them wait.

McGregor and Hathaway deliver competent performances as parents whose relationship has clearly become strained even before the dinosaurs arrive. Their marital difficulties could easily have been reduced to convenient character drama, but instead add another layer to a story about a family being forced to rediscover its sense of togetherness. Stella and Convery also do well as the terrified children, convincingly capturing the panic of suddenly having to run, hide and survive among creatures that should exist only in museums and movies.

The creatures themselves are finely designed, and there is a particularly interesting detail in some of the dinosaurs' appearance: feathers. While popular culture has traditionally presented dinosaurs as scaly monsters, the inclusion of feathering reflects the evolving understanding of what some dinosaurs may actually have looked like. It gives the creatures a slightly unfamiliar appearance, even when the audience already knows what a dinosaur is supposed to look like.

Of course, dinosaurs are hardly a novelty on the big screen anymore. After decades of CGI, there is only so much novelty left in watching a T-rex or other prehistoric creature stomp around. Yet seeing these enormous beasts roam through familiar suburban streets on an IMAX screen remains an awe-inspiring experience. There is something wonderfully absurd about looking at an ordinary neighbourhood and imagining a dinosaur suddenly appearing at the end of the road while you are on your way to work.

The End of Oak Street does not reinvent the dinosaur movie, nor does it need to. Its greatest pleasure comes from taking something familiar and dropping it into an unexpectedly ordinary setting. The result is a breezy, entertaining adventure that occasionally reminds you why audiences fell in love with dinosaurs on screen in the first place — and may even have you wondering what you would actually do if one appeared outside your home tomorrow.

Movie Rating:

(A crowd-pleasing dinosaur adventure that makes you wonder what you would do if a T-rex suddenly appeared on your street)

Review by John Li