[FILM REVIEW] THE END OF OAK STREET Review (2026)

Summary: The Platt family bands together to navigate their new surroundings after a cosmic event transports their suburban neighborhood to someplace unknown.

Year: 2026

Cinema Release Dates:  13th August 2026 (Australia), 12th August 2026 (Thailand), 14th August 2026 (UK), 14th August 2026 (USA)

VOD Release Dates: TBA

Country: USA, Canada, Australia

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell

Cast: P.J. Byrne (Mel Jacobs), Anne Gee Byrd (Mrs. Huddleston), Christian Convery (Brian Platt), Jordan Alexa Davis (Jeanette Christiansen), Anne Hathaway (Denise Platt), Denitra Isler (Mrs. Rey), David Alexander Kaplan (Charles Tucker), Emily Kuraoda (Mrs. Valcourt), Bethany Anne Lind (Mary Bagrowski), Christopher A. Martin (Leon), Simms May (Zachary), Callie McClincy (Katie), Ewan McGregor (Greg Platt), Hudson Meek (Kaden Tucker), Michael Christian Moore (Ashon), Walker Russell (Mason), Hugo Silver (Fergus), Maisy Stella (Audrey Platt), Morgan O. Watkins (Kelly Wagner)

Running Time: 99 mins

Classification: M (Australia), 20 (Thailand), 13+ (UK), PG-13 (USA)

OUR THE END OF OAK STREET REVIEWS

David Griffiths and Kyle McGrath’s The End Of Oak Street Review

You can read Kyle McGrath’s written Th End Of Oak Street review in Subculture Magazine.

A bunch of dinosaurs run amok through an American suburb during the 1980s. It sounds like a crazy plot for a film, right? Well, that was my first thought when I saw a trailer for The End Of Oak Street. But now I have seen the film I have realised something – there have been crazier plots over the years I mean even something as entrenched in pop culture as Star Wars would have seemed pretty crazy when first written down on paper.

My second initial thought about The End of Oak Street was that it had to be a straight-to-streaming B-Grade movie. Again, I was really wrong – instead the film stars two Hollywood A-Listers in Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada) and Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge) and is produced by none other than the inventive J.J. Abrams.

The film itself centres around a suburban family in the early 1980s. There is the father Greg Platt (McGregor) who has been struggling to find full-time so is now working as a pizza-delivery driver and then there is his wife, Denise (Hathaway), who is unhappy with the decisions that her husband is making and buries it with her hidden hobby – writing a novel.

Then there are the kids – the astronomy obsessed Audrey (Maisy Stella – My Old Ass) and her brother Brian (Christian Convery – Frankenstein) who is happiest when he is able to sit down and play with his faithful Blue Heeler dog.

Life is fairly ordinary for the family – yes there is some pretty bitter arguing between Greg and Denise but when it comes to something like their next neighbour Mel Jacobs (P.J. Byrne – The Wolf Of Wall Street) blaming one of them for something it turns out they really do have each other’s backs.

Then the weird happenings begin – first there is the bright, blinding lights in the night sky, a prehistoric plant appearing in the yard of Mrs. Huddleston (Anne Gee Byrd – Wild) and then Mel Jacobs waking up to a mound of poo in his back garden. Yes, the signs are there but nobody really realises what is happening until they wake up to discover that suddenly their neighbourhood has moved and they now have some Jurassic neighbours that come in all shapes and sizes but all seem to have one thing in mind – kill all the humans.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) The End Of Oak Street ends up being part disaster flick and part family friendly thriller/horror. It is clear that this is J.J. Abrams’ tribute to the movies that Spielberg was making in the 1980s and 1990s while Mitchell pulls back from the horror he has delivered in the past to create a film that mirrors the tone of something like Stranger Things.

The weird thing about this film is that a lot of the questions the audience will ask about the plot go completely unanswered yet there is no way that you will walk about of the film disappointed. The science behind the events is never explained, maybe it will be if there ever do a sequel, yet this is a fun watch that will even have you on the edge of your seat at times.

When it comes to his screenplay Mitchell is smart enough to put a smattering of characterisation throughout the film. He doesn’t go to heavy but at the same time none of these characters are one-dimensional. In fact funnily enough I saw way too much of what my Dad was like back in the 1980s in the character of Greg while the music and fashion took me back to what it was like for me as a youngster during the same period.

Perhaps the most surprising of the characters here is Jeanette (Jordan Alexa Davis – Defending Jacob) who is set to be a love interest for one character but becomes the interest for another. It is little touches like that that makes The End Of Oak Street an enduring film that is going to be loved by a big fanbase.

The other plus here is the fact that Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor certainly don’t view this film as being below then. You can see that McGregor is having fun here. He works hard at bringing the frustrating situation that his character finds himself in to the surface but at the same time doesn’t forget to have a laugh when the screenplay calls for him to pose in front of two ‘intimate’ dinosaurs. He is having fun with the role and you can see that.

Likewise, Hathaway who brings her A-Game to scenes such as having a massive fight with her on-screen husband and her continued chase sequences which frequently see her running for her life. Like McGregor you can see that she is mixing the drama with fun and is loving it.

Yes, it has a crazy plot but The End Of Oak Street is certainly not a film that will disappoint. Filled with suspense, some genuinely surprising moments and awesome retro film score this is a movie that conjures up memories of those amazing films of the 80s and 90s and certainly won’t disappoint those that love a good popcorn movie.

David’s Rating Out Of 5

Kyle’s Rating Out Of 5

Average Subculture rating Out Of 5

Other Subculture Entertainment The End Of Oak Street Reviews

You can read our review of The End Of Oak Street that appeared in The Phuket News here

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