Matt Konopka reviews David Robert Mitchell’s ‘The End of Oak Street’, a fun, scary, heartfelt, prehistoric thrill ride.
There goes the neighborhood!
I despise the usual applications of that saying, but it more than fits writer/director David Robert Mitchell’s (It Follows) Amblin-esque dinosaur thrill ride, The End of Oak Street. The tale of a town transported back in time, the filmmaker’s latest delivers the sort of energized summer blockbuster that’s fun (and scary) for the whole family. It might even be the best dino flick since Jurassic Park.
A low bar, I know, but still.
Beginning in the early 1980s, we meet the Platt family. They may look like a perfectly happy, loving group, but all is not well behind the walls of their picturesque home. Greg (Ewan McGregor) is struggling financially, stuck delivering pizzas. Audrey (Maisy Stella) doesn’t feel like she fits in. Brian (Christian Convery) has taken up smoking to the shock of his parents. And Denise (Anne Hathaway) secretly wants to leave Greg for good. Starbuck the dog, well, he’s just a good boy living his best life. That’s all before they wake up one morning to discover that their entire neighborhood has been transported back to the age of dinosaurs. Now, hunted by various creatures, they must work together to find a way back to their own time.
Mitchell first screamed onto the horror scene with his wholly unique STD demon flick, It Follows. It was that stunning shocker that had me hopeful for genuine dinosaur thrills and chills when it came to The End of Oak Street. Let me tell you, the filmmaker does not disappoint.
At first, the director sucks you into the picturesque town of Flowervale with a disarming pleasantness. The film takes place in a neighborhood like those I imagine many of you grew up in. It opens on a block party, adults grilling while kids play. We meet the usual assortment of neighbors, from the kind old lady down the street, Mrs. Huddleston (Anne Gee Byrd), to new girl/Brian’s crush, Jeannette (Jordan Alexa Davis). Flowervale’s a place where gangs of children roam on bicycles, the sun seems to shine extra bright, and everyone likely assumes they can leave their doors unlocked at night. It’s a place that feels safe. It’s home.
And then Mitchell smashes all of that to pieces.
What begins as odd, small occurrences, such as a giant pile of shit that appears in uptight neighbor Mel’s (P.J. Byrne) yard, explodes into all-out chaos following a blinding flash of light in the middle of the night. During one pulse-pounding sequence, Greg and Denise leave to check on the neighbors, discovering an array of ancient monsters roaming around. Worse, every street out of town stops at a dead end, cut off by a prehistoric jungle. Home becomes a nightmare they can’t wake up from.
Supported by composer Michael Giacchino‘s mile-a-minute score–channeling John Williams’ own Jurassic Park composition– Mitchell unleashes one nerve-wracking sequence after another. End of Oak Street roars like a wild whirlwind of dino pandemonium. Mike Gioulakis‘ superb camerawork throws us right in the middle of the action, tracking the group as they’re chased by fearsome monsters that smash through buildings, crush cars, and rip through civilians. Creatures lurk in the background, unbeknownst to the family as they sneak up like cartoon characters holding a knife and fork, ready to eat. There’s always something going on in the frame, whether it’s neighbors running from creatures or the hungry beasts involved in laughable antics (that includes dinosaur sex, by the way).
To make matters more intense, the characters don’t have an arsenal at their disposal. Instead, they’re mostly left with household items to take on the deadly dinos. We’re talking hammers, kitchen knives, you name it. Against all odds, this family fights like hell for one another, making for plenty of breathless moments.
Simply put, Mitchell proves himself a master of suspense behind the camera.
Oh, and if you love a good split diopter shot (that’s me), get ready to weep tears of joy, because Mitchell loads up here.
Dino enthusiasts will also be ecstatic to see the prehistoric antagonists depicted as screen-accurate as possible. Most of the creatures are covered in feathers, a far cry from the reptilian look we once associated them with. Rest assured, Mitchell isn’t content to show us what we’ve seen before. Sure, you’ll be familiar with some of the animals, but the filmmaker also incorporates a few fresh faces that inspire laughs, or screams, or both. One pesky critter in particular had me unable to decide if I should run from it or hug it. Why friend-shaped if so vicious?
That’s the Spielbergian/Amblin vibe that Mitchell channels so well here. It’s meant to be a summer blockbuster for parents and kiddos alike. Though, I should warn, The End of Oak Street will almost certainly scare some kids off dinos for good. Hell, it terrified me! Think the more frightening moments of Jurassic Park, but bloodier (albeit, CG gore). Mitchell’s dino film has some serious teeth to it. Balanced with the silly humor and a warm heart at the center are violent images that don’t shy away from the horror. The filmmaker’s not afraid to kick you in the gut and rip your heart out as if you’ve just stepped into Temple of Doom, either.
Speaking of, I’m a child of divorce. My parents separated when I was a teenager. That was one of the most difficult times of my life…a period that The End of Oak Street brought me back to as we follow this family on the verge of crumbling. The attacking dinos…the home that no longer feels like home…they’re reflections of the devastation that rips through a family when the D-word arises. Each actor beautifully captures the pain of the situation. I found myself more than impressed with the young stars, especially Stella, whose performance is years ahead of her age here. And then there’s Hathaway, who gives it her all as a woman struggling to decide: should I stay or should I go now? This is a movie about remembering that your family is your clan, and you need them as much as they need you. Yes, I cried. What of it?
For as much fun as I had, though, The End of Oak Street doesn’t quite reach that perfect summer blockbuster status. Characters tend to make such poor decisions that I wanted to rip my hair out. And the third act may win for the most eye-rolling (and predictable) of the year.
Despite that, those issues weren’t enough to stop me from having a great time with the sort of fun, scary, and heartfelt dinosaur film audiences have been craving since Jurassic Park. There hasn’t been a dino movie as energized and suspenseful as this since Spielberg’s classic. It’s a prehistoric rollercoaster that’ll delight the whole family, obnoxious third act be damned.
The End of Oak Street roars into theaters on August 14th via Warner Bros.
