The End of Oak Street - The scoop and digest

Originally titled Flowervale Street, mystery thriller is written, co-produced and directed by David Robert Mitchell, who made a name for himself with It Follows (2014).

Anne Hathaway - Denise

Ewan McGregor - Greg

Maisy Stella - Audrey

Christian Convery - Brian

P. J. Byrne - Mel

Summary

In 1982, Denise and Greg Platt live with their kids Audrey and Brian in Flowervale.

One night, the family dog Starbuck witnesses a blinding ball of light, which is soon revealed to be a wormhole.

The next morning, their neighbour Mel shows them a huge pile of excrement in his backyard from an unidentified animal, making the load the Triceratops left in Jurassic Park minute in comparison.

During a violent storm, a much larger wormhole engulfs the street, transporting the neighbourhood millions of years in the past.

When dinosaurs begin eating folk, Denise and Greg reconcile and draw on every resource to protect Audrey and Brian.

Two points in space and time

Although domestic stuff sucked and it's never explained why wormholes are opening up, survival horror is still the best example since the criminally overlooked Primitive War (2025).

Film basks in the nostalgic glory of E.T. (kids bombing about on bicycles), but apart from dinosaurs, is nothing like Jurassic Park.

However, big bad Allosaurus drinking from a paddling pool is presumably a subtle nod to the T-rex quenching its thirst from a swimming pool in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).

I also note surburban neighbourhood smacks of Cuesta Verde in Poltergeist (1982), which Spielberg was heavily involved in.

Our prehistoric friends don't appear for about 30m, seriously pushing the boundaries of 12A certificate.

At one point, Denise and Greg observe dinosaurs mating, a bizarre cinematic first.

Gamers may raise suspicious eyebrows when a giant white snake attacks, as out of place creature immediately reminded me of the Great Serpent, an optional boss in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019). 

Action sequences can be thrilling, and Mark Renton getting eaten with a decent chunk of running time remaining surprised me in a good way.

Unfortunately, everything is undone by Denise and co escaping through a wormhole, returning 20 minutes before on the same night street disappeared.  Denise warns residents to get the fuck out of dodge and arranges for Greg to be a safe distance away.

Two years later, the news informs the area has been contained and Denise publishes a novel based on her experiences.