The End of Oak Street is a movie I had no idea was coming until I saw the trailer for it. I think it was when I went to see Masters of the Universe! You put dinosaurs in a big theatrically released movie, and I am going to go and see it! Plus, with JJ Abrams being attached and starring Euan McGregor and Anne Hathaway, I had very, very high hopes that this could be a fun time, and I am happy to say that it was.
Where to Watch The End of Oak Street
The End of Oak Street was released on August 14, 2026. It should be available to watch on HBO Max before the end of the year.
The Movie Review
What You See Is What You Get
The thing is, if you watch the trailer for this movie, what you see in the trailer is pretty much exactly what you get for the entire just over 90-minute runtime. That is not meant as a complaint, far from it; I actually got everything that I wanted out of the movie, and that was good. It is just, there were no real surprises, well apart from a little dino-on-dino action that had the theatre I was in cracking up big time!
Retro 80s Nostalgia and Goonies Vibes
One thing I did not pick up on in the trailer was that the movie is set in the early 1980s! As a kid of the 80s, I love stuff set in the 80s, but I have no idea as to why this one was. Perhaps they were going for a kind of 80s Goonies, Monster Squad type of feel for things? Hey, if they were, they actually achieved this, as The End of Oak Street is 100 percent the kind of movie I could have imagined seeing in a theatre when I was a kid or renting from the video store 30 times.
Trouble on the Block and a Prehistoric Jump
We have two main characters, a married couple called Greg and Denise, played by Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway. Greg and Denise have a strained marriage, and they live with their two kids, Brian and Audrey, along with their dog, Starbuck, and strange things have been happening on Oak Street. An extinct plant shows up, a giant pile of poop shows up, and then one night…. Everything changes.
Barricades, Survival, and a Runaway Dog
The entirety of the neighborhood is transported back millions of years! While exploring to find out what happened, dinosaurs show up, start hunting and eating people, leading Greg and Denise to barricade themselves and their kids in the house to try and survive. Of course, food and water supplies start to dwindle, but the real worry for the family is that their dog, Starbuck, has run away, and this is what causes all the drama in the movie, but is also what leads to the ending, so in a way, I guess it was a good thing.
Sibling Dynamics: Audrey vs. Brian
Let me say, the son, Brian, is annoying as hell! Audrey, the daughter, is great; she is smart and actually figures out what is happening and finds out how to save the day, but Brian is a dumbass. No full spoilers here, but there is a part in the movie where they are trying to get home, and I knew that Brian was going to screw it up! He was not a nasty kid or anything like that, just super annoying with what a dumbass he was!
Tense Action, Terrific Dinos, and Modest Budget
The movie has some great tense moments! There were more than a few scenes where I wondered how the heck they were going to get out of this, and the dinosaur designs were awesome! I was shocked to see that this movie, as far as summer blockbusters go, actually had a pretty modest budget, coming in at under 100 million if what I am reading is true. The movie also moves at a very brisk pace, which I think works to its advantage; the more I think about it, the more I feel that this could have been a movie I watched during summer break back in 1988!
Dino Crisis 2 Vibes and Final Verdict
The End of Oak Street was just a really fun time, a good popcorn summer movie that makes you smile the whole time you are watching it. Oh, one thing I do have to say is that I found the premise of the two time periods switching places to be very similar to the game Dino Crisis 2, and that is awesome! That really has nothing to do with the movie, but I never get the chance to bring up Dino Crisis! Anyway, back to the movie, I hope that this does really well, as I would love to see some kind of follow-up to this. Although releasing it so close to Spider-Man: Brand New Day may have been a mistake.
