The End of Oak Street Tops Jurassic Park Sequels With 1982 Family Thrown Into Dinosaur Horror
Updated
Updated · Slate · Aug 13
The End of Oak Street Tops Jurassic Park Sequels With 1982 Family Thrown Into Dinosaur Horror
3 articles · Updated · Slate · Aug 13
Summary
David Robert Mitchell’s “The End of Oak Street” is hailed as a stronger dinosaur movie than recent “Jurassic Park” entries, pairing suspense with a more patient, emotionally grounded story.
About a third of the film unfolds before its full dinosaur premise lands, focusing on a fraying 1982 suburban family led by Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway before space-time chaos erupts.
The review says Mitchell uses Spielberg-style restraint—rumbles, glimpses and delayed reveals—while mixing in grisly deaths and dark humor that play especially well with a theater audience.
Maisy Stella and Christian Convery are singled out for performances that avoid irony, helping the film feel sincere rather than nostalgic even as it leans on familiar family-adventure beats.
For all its wormholes and prehistoric carnivores, the movie is described as surprisingly straightforward and confident enough to tell its story without the self-aware winking common in modern blockbusters.