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The End of Oak Street Review
Image Credit: Warner Bros.
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Directed By: David Robert Mitchell
Written By: David Robert Mitchell
Runtime: 99 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for some strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language, and suggestive material.
Anne Hathaway – Denise Platt
Ewan McGregor – Greg Platt
Maisy Stella – Audrey Platt
Christian Convery – Brian Platt
Jordan Alexa Davis – Jeannette Christiansen
P. J. Byrne – Mel Jacobs
Anne Gee Byrd – Mrs. Huddleston
Emily Kuroda – Mrs. Valcourt
It Follows director David Robert Mitchell crafts a throwback, familial-themed adventure story in the original sci-fi motion picture, The End of Oak Street. Collaborating with J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions banner, Robert Mitchell crafts a thrilling homage to classic Steven Spielberg movies, Amblin Entertainment, and cinematic blockbusters of the ’80s and ’90s.
The End of Oak Street opens by introducing the Platt family at a block party in their ordinary suburban neighborhood, circa 1982. Tension between father Greg (McGregor) and mother Denise (Hathaway) is clearly bubbling under the surface . Even their two kids, teen Audrey (Stella) and 12-year-old Brian (Convery), can recognize it.
Denise is growing anxious over Greg constantly sweeping their issues under the rug. Meanwhile, Greg is constantly going out to make pizza deliveries for extra cash, much to Denise’s frustration.
Unfortunately for the Platts and the rest of their unsuspecting neighbors, their quaint town becomes ground zero for a unique phenomenon. The neighborhood becomes enveloped in a cosmic wormhole, sending it hurtling 200 million years into the past. Now, the family must band together and fight for survival as dangerous dinosaurs and predators seek to make them their next meals.
Director David Robert Mitchell wears his influences on his sleeve, but he does it well, moving beyond mimicry of iconic filmmakers like Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis. The filmmaker proves to be an expert in building tension, stakes, and buildup. The opening act of the movie provides a nice, slow burn.
The first major chase sequence involving a dinosaur offers only a brief glimpse of the feral creature, and it’s expertly framed around its pursuit of Greg, but the creature is kept out of frame. Additionally, Mitchell exceptionally builds suspense by depicting the vicious creatures gradually stalking and making their way toward their unwilling victims. Despite the movie’s homage to blockbusters of yore, Mitchell still throws in some surprising brutality and terror throughout The End of Oak Street.
Mitchell certainly brings his experience and sensibilities in the horror genre to The End of Oak Street, but his style, especially his approach to building suspense, is refreshing and traditionally cinematic, rather than resorting to cheap gags and jump-scare tricks. Mitchell and his director of photography, Michael Gioulakis, wonderfully shoot the action sequences, using long and intentional shots.
Mitchell and his editor John Axelrad ramp up the tension in these big suspenseful moments, favoring longer, intentional takes, giving major moments the proper room to breathe. At the same time, the movie maintains a strong pace once the Platts’ town is transported to prehistoric times, and the film never overstays its welcome at a lean runtime of 99 minutes.
The actors for the Platt family deliver solid performances. The young actors portraying the kids are especially strong, as they avoid the annoying movie-kid tropes or frustrations. Anne Hathaway, unsurprisingly, delivers the strongest performance, and she easily elevates what could have been a more exploitative, trashy B-movie if a few elements had been tweaked. Hathaway delivers a knockout performance that elevates the narrative.
The movie’s main drawback comes in its ending. At a certain point, the plot does something rather cliché, cutesy, and goofy. It almost gets away with the major reveal. One instance of the dramatic beat that Mitchell pulls off would have been acceptable, but he overplays the outcome. At a certain point, it makes his script too tonally dissonant.
On the other hand, Mitchell’s ending could merely represent his own personal tip of the hat to the movies he loved growing up, and sometimes those movies didn’t end perfectly or raised their own set of questions. Nevertheless, the ending presents logical loopholes and questions that don’t work as well as the rest of the story, which flows much more tightly and efficiently.
David Robert Mitchell proves exceptionally adept at crafting a fun throwback sci-fi adventure movie in The End of Oak Street. He honors his influences but still presents a thrilling cinematic adventure.
Where To Watch The End of Oak Street
The End of Oak Street opens in theaters on August 14. Ticket and showtime information can be found at the movie’s website.
