IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: THE END OF OAK STREET (8/14/26)

"I swear, I thought it was just our dog making noise in the woods!" Brian Platt (Christian Convery) and his sister Audrey (Maisy Stella) high-tail it with urgency while being chased by one of the many prehistoric creatures that now call their neighborhood home in a scene from writer/director David Robert Mitchell's THE END OF OAK STREET. © 2026 Warner Brothers. All Rights Reserved.

THE STORY: The year is 1982. The scene is the suburbs of Michigan close enough to where the Detroit Tigers can be heard playing baseball on the radio. And the Platt family – down on his luck father Greg (Ewan McGregor), aspiring author Denise (Anne Hathaway), daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella) and her 13 year-old brotherBrian (Christian Convery), who is currently trying to avoid a schoolmate's older brother from getting revenge on him for breaking his younger sibling's arm, plus family dog Starbuck– are enjoying their lives. 

Then, a mysterious set of lights flash, the power goes out and strange flora and fauna start appearing – mainly in the form of carnivorous dinosaurs that are hungrier than any plastic hippos you can imagine. It all adds up to a scenario that seems to spell THE END OF OAK STREET ...

THE REVIEW: Despite its characters having the survival skills of a goldfish in a tank full of South American piranhas, THE END OF OAK STREET is an entertaining throwback '80s style action adventure film with just enough family thrown in for good measure. Hathway shines playing in a film essentially almost unlike any other she's ever done, making McGregor's sad sack husband role one that is more digestible to watch than it may sound. If it were in fact the 1980s, THE END OF OAK STREET would be the type of film you'd want to watch in an urban setting just to hear the audience's reaction to many of the characters' poor decisions. But since its 2026, it's best to just enjoy the ride writer/director David Robert Mitchell (and producer J.J. Abrams) has cooked up as the most Steven Spielberg movie that the famed filmmaker didn't actually create. 

RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):