The End Of Oak Street Reviews: Critics Praise ‘Thrilling’ Anne Hathaway Movie

The summer blockbusters don’t stop coming in 2026.

After The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day make break records at the box office, audiences could have a new cinema obsession on their hands, and this one doesn’t feature Tom Holland or Zendaya.

The End Of Oak Street is a new action-horror film led by Ewan McGregor and woman of the hour Anne Hathaway, which was met with an overwhelmingly positive response in the lead-up to its release on Friday.

Written and directed by It Follows’ David Robert Mitchell, the film follows a family in 1980s suburbia who notice strange prehistoric goings-on in their idyllic neighbourhood.

Of course, there have already been plenty of comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, but that hasn’t stopped critics from describing the nostalgic romp as “thrilling,” “exciting”, and a “great rollercoaster” of a dinosaur movie in its own right.

After the aforementioned The Odyssey and The Devil Wears Prada 2, it looks like Anne Hathaway has another hit on her hands.

Here is what critics are saying about The End Of Oak Street so far.…

“Even when we’re watching people trying to escape a vehicle being stomped on by a 900lb extinct reptile, The End Of Oak Street feels original and exciting and not, to borrow a little internet lingo, like Jurassic Park’s ‘reheated nachos’.

“It’s one of the best films of the summer. And it didn’t even have to star Tom Holland and Zendaya.”

“Mitchell makes for one of the better Spielberg tribute acts in recent memory. Your inner seven-year-old will have a great time.”

“Just when you thought there was nowhere new left for hungry dinosaurs to rampage, here come producer JJ Abrams and writer-director David Robert Mitchell with a fresh, fun spin on stompy saurian carnage.”

“The film is only 99 minutes, wastes little time getting to the goods, and never stops for a moment to let us realise this is all pretty silly, but really who cares?”

“Everything from the conspicuously faded visual palette — all the better to conjure up that spirit-of-’82 feeling, my dear — to the Jaws-to-Jurassic Park method of withholding the monsters as long as possible reeks of a bygone era of Spielbergmania.”

“The End Of Oak Street is a story about the secrets in our homes, the bloodshed that’s latent in our paradises; about our pride meeting and subsequently being torn asunder by the apocalypse. It’s also the most thrilling dinosaur movie in ages and an ode to the life and sacrifices of dads.”

“I can’t fathom how The End Of Oak Street actually exists, even if it is a perfect example of what the big studios should be doing right now — making original spectacles, ideally ones in which Anne Hathaway fires a rifle at a velociraptor.”

“It still might be too earnest an approach for anyone more interested in a broader meta sci-fi swing. For those who want to check out a genuinely great rollercoaster of a dinosaur movie this summer, however, The End Of Oak Street delivers the best one in decades.”

“The End Of Oak Street may not be the follow-up that fans of Mitchell’s work were expecting, but it’s 90 minutes of edge-of-your-seat entertainment that commits to its concept and entertains throughout.

Big, loud, and guaranteed to make you jump at least once, it’s another eye-catching performance from the always-busy Hathaway, and proof that blockbuster entertainment doesn’t need to follow a franchise formula.”

“David Robert Mitchell delivers the biggest surprise of the summer with the best dinosaur movie since 1993.”

“The End of Oak Street expertly recalls this [Spielberg’s] style of genre filmmaking, right down to its score, choice of lenses, and more. Yet it isn’t mere throwback or homage. Instead, Mitchell has made a highly personal movie that resonates with its depth as much as it delights with its action and visual effects.

“Ultimately, the movie is like an old friend. There aren’t a lot of surprises, but you still enjoy their company. Maybe you haven’t seen each other in eight years or so, but there doesn’t need to be any explanation when you get back together. You know their secrets, warts and all, so maybe they don’t impress you like they used to but damn if it isn’t nice to see them again anyway.”

“The final act is on an entertainment level that the first hour is nowhere close to, delivering tense set pieces and humour (mostly intentional, we think).”

“You could argue that it’s not ‘good’ by conventional standards, but the film has a sui generis oddness that’s rare in summer popcorn productions. That quality is heightened by how hard it is to tell how much of it is intentional and how much is inadvertent.”

“The first chunk of the movie is a teary adventure drama; the last, an amiable group hug. In the middle, Mitchell decides his characters are morons and Oak Street becomes a comedy. Once the audience gets past their disorientation, the slapstick triggers enough silly goodwill that my auditorium squeezed out generous spurts of applause.”

“It is initially amusing but oddly inert; contrived, derivative, commercially driven and weirdly inconsequential, a Spielbergian mashup about dinosaurs running amok in suburbia that doesn’t feel like homage so much as a pastiche produced by an AI Spielbergbot.”

“If you’re looking for carefree summer fun, look elsewhere. The End Of Oak Street is not fun. It’s bleak, brutal, and ultimately infuriating.”

The End Of Oak Street is out in cinemas now.