The End of Oak Street Turns 1980s Suburbia Into a Dinosaur Bloodbath With Real Spielbergian Heart

With this very hot summer in full swing it felt only necessary we’d start to see some blockbusters enter our cinemas, and instead of the franchise driven entries, we have The End of Oak Street, an original film by David Robert Mitchell which hopes to capture the magic of Steven Spielberg’s filmography. The End of Oak Street is a grisly adventure movie following the Platt family and their survival after their quaint 1980s American suburb is mysteriously transported back to the age of dinosaurs. This is a tight original summer blockbuster that incorporates the sentimentality of the blockbuster golden age with the technology and edge of the modern cinematic landscape.

When you think of dinosaurs and you think of movies, you think of Jurassic Park. Now, David Robert Mitchell isn’t necessarily trying to stake a claim on the dinosaur film title, but quite the contrary. Right from the first few moments, it’s made clear The End of Oak Street is heavy on the nostalgic pastiche of filmmakers such as Robert Zemeckis, George Lucas and, of course, Steven Spielberg. The score has that jaunty whimsy, the costumes that layer of cheese, and even the family unit is almost the typical American nuclear family. Perhaps a more contemporary comparison for where the atmosphere and mood of The End of Oak Street sits is something like Stranger Things. They use the pseudo problem-less 1980s suburbia and plunge it into a more frightening circumstance. Whereas it felt Stranger Things grew to resent its 1980s setting and used it for entirely commercial and nostalgia-baiting reasons, the sentimentality is more tender and assured throughout this film, incorporating it as more so a filmmaking technique and guidebook than something to profit off.

When it comes to the performances, this is a relatively limited cast. Anne Hathaway is having a year to remember and in this she doesn’t slow down. Hathaway trades the quiet tragedy she showed in The Odyssey for a far more physically demanding role. As the matriarch of the family she takes the lead and opens up an interesting conversation within the film about how to handle difficult situations around children, both with the personal relationship problems the Platt parents face but also the imminent danger the family find themselves in. Ewan McGregor is the bumbling patriarch of the family, a less fleshed out performance, however McGregor is able to inject a good level of charm into the role to make Greg Platt somewhat of an ‘everyman’. The Platt children are portrayed by Maisy Stella and Christian Convery, who both do a good job at the typical Spielbergian child, reacting to the vicious action with the necessary shock and trauma. Lastly, completing the family unit is Starbuck, the family’s Australian Shepherd turned action hero who pops up from time to time throughout the film with varying effect, from creating tension to cathartic payoff.

Surrounding The End of Oak Street is a central mystery of what has happened to this neighbourhood and how the central family get out of this predicament, and while David Robert Mitchell seems to have some of the answers, an audience wouldn’t be wrong in thinking we didn’t get most of them. This is an original concept, one that deserves attention just for the sake of keeping the idea of the original summer blockbuster alive, but with the simplicity of its delivery, comes the complexity of its concept. Although there aren’t too many loose ends left within the primary narrative, bigger questions loom on the horizon, questions that hamper this story from feeling complete.

The End of Oak Street is lean and mean and pushes the limitations that are placed on the 12A certificate it’s been assigned. David Robert Mitchell paints the dinosaurs depicted in a strictly horrific light that turns this 1980s family adventure into a battle for survival. Like many projects with J.J. Abrams involved, not all the answers are explained to you, and while not necessarily a bad thing, it may leave an audience slightly cold to the greater story taking place on Oak Street. Fans of Jurassic Park will surely get a kick out of the chaos that unfolds and families will surely get a kick out of the risky material that skirts the line towards full on horror, but a fun cast and tight runtime make The End of Oak Street an adventure worth taking a risk on.

Take the family if you’re happy with a proper scare, but The End of Oak Street’s biggest mystery is one EyeOnLondon suspects it never quite means to solve.

For more London arts and culture, visit EyeOnLondon at eye-on-london.com.

[Image Credit | Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures]

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