The End of Oak Street early reviews: Anne Hathaway’s bleak dinosaur thriller bites into 83% on Rotten Tomatoes

David Robert Mitchell's genre-bending dinosaur thriller has landed with critics sitting at a strong 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the reviews paint a picture of a film that's a bit of Amblin throwback, suburban family drama, and unexpectedly nasty creature horror.

What it's about

Set in suburban Michigan in 1982, The End of Oak Street follows the Platt family, Denise (Anne Hathaway), Greg (Ewan McGregor), and their teenage kids Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), as a cosmic event rips their entire neighborhood out of its own reality and drops it somewhere unknown. A story about a marriage falling apart turns into a fight for survival once prehistoric predators enter the picture.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under the Silver Lake) and produced by J.J. Abrams, the film also stars Jordan Alexa Davis, P.J. Byrne, Bethany Anne Lind, Emily Kuroda, Denitra Isler, Hudson Meek, Anne Gee Byrd, Michael-Christian Moore, Hugo Silver, and Simms May.

The critics weigh in

The Jam Report frames the film as a rediscovery of a genre gone soft. The outlet argues that decades of bloated sequels and overly heroic prehistoric creatures had drained the fear out of movie dinosaurs, and that Mitchell has reversed that trend, delivering what it calls a ferociously entertaining mash-up of family drama, sci-fi and creature horror. The review is upfront about the Spielberg influence, tracing a direct line to E.T., Poltergeist, Gremlins and The Goonies, but insists the film transcends nostalgia by folding in the suburban dread and rougher horror instincts that have defined Mitchell's career.

Crucially, the outlet doesn't treat this as a knock, it sees the blend as the film's biggest strength, calling the finished product a rare case of a filmmaker honoring his influences while still making something that feels like his own.

That balance between familiar influences and darker instincts also comes through in Mashable’s take. The outlet essentially imagines an Amblin movie made by someone considerably less interested in reassuring audiences, noting the film’s echoes of Jaws and Jurassic Park, including some deliberately recognisable sound and score choices.

But instead of treating the dinosaur threat as the whole point, the review mentions that the film uses the Amblin formula as a vehicle for something more unsettling and even draws a comparison with Netflix's The Last House, suggesting both films are considerably bleaker beneath their surface-level premises.

However, some view it as a straight genre entertainer. Culture Mix highlights the visual effects, performances and comedy, arguing that those elements help The End of Oak Street rise above a conventional monster movie. While it doesn't put the film in the same league as Jurassic Park the it can still be considered a satisfying choice for viewers looking for a tense dinosaur thriller.

Not every critic is convinced that all those ingredients come together seamlessly. Flickering Myth appreciates Mitchell’s willingness to embrace the film’s sillier side, including a self-aware Jurassic Park gag despite the story taking place in 1982. It also credits the director with giving the film a nastier streak than audiences might expect from its Amblin-style setup. But the review is less sold on the tonal shifts, questioning whether J.J. Abrams’ involvement contributed to choices that feel out of step with Mitchell’s earlier work.

Across the board, critics agree the film wears its Amblin and Jurassic Park influences openly rather than trying to hide them, and that its real hook isn't the dinosaurs themselves but the family drama and darker thematic undercurrents running beneath the creature-feature surface.

Where reviewers diverge is on execution, some see a confident, ferocious throwback; others see a film pulling in too many directions to fully land any of them. With an 83% critics' score, though, the consensus is clearly more enthusiastic than not.