The End of Oak Street (2026) - 5/10

Now I like a good, slightly overblown, fantasy thriller, with an apocalyptic tint and who doesn’t love when it happens in idyllic, sunny small town 80s America. That’s where we are, incase the title didn’t give it away. All happy on the surface, but Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are having martial issues. They could split up, but that might upset the kids, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), or they could find something to galvanise them. Weird things start to happen amongst the usual stuff with BMX bikes and bullies, until a storm one night cuts off the phones, power, water and the entire street, literally. There’s a nice eerie twilight zone vibe to the neighbourhood the next morning, as the quiet is slowly pierced with sounds reminiscent of Jurassic Park. Which is pretty much what this is, with Oak Street inexplicably being scythed out of its neighbourhood and dumped with its inhabitants, into a world of thick vegetation… and dinosaurs. It’s bonkers fun, but plays its cool card far too soon and very little is left to the imagination. Thankfully you can’t really go wrong with carnivorous dinosaurs running around suburbia can you. Even if Hathaway and McGregor are unusually bad and the story is paper-thin. You really need to switch your brain off and just try and focus on the family’s half assed attempts at survival and go along for the ride. It’s clearly aimed at a family audience and maybe that’s its biggest issue, it needs a bit more grit to make the danger feel, well, dangerous. Although fair enough, it does pack some unexpected twists. When all’s said and done though, the only character I’m really rooting for… is the CGI dog. Now I like a good, slightly overblown, fantasy thriller, with an apocalyptic tint, but this is wasteful and ultimately pretty disappointing.

5/10