‘The End of Oak Street’: 3 Things Parents Should Know

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It’s Jurassic Park Meets The Twilight Zone

The movie opens on a picturesque scene on a 1982 American street, with families enjoying the warm weather as kids ride bikes and moms and dads chat with neighbors about the everyday happenings of suburban life.

Soon, though, we learn that everything isn’t so rosy with the film’s central characters, the Platt family. Mom Denise (Anne Hathaway) and dad Greg (Ewan McGregor) are growing so distant that their children, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), wonder if they are heading for a divorce. Greg has lost his job but has yet to tell his wife, instead taking odd jobs to bring in income. Denise, meanwhile, is secretly writing a novel about a wife unhappy with her marriage – a story that sounds an awful lot like her own life.

The plot begins shifting thanks to a string of mysterious events: First, the news reports an increase in solar flare activity, then Brian and other neighbors spot a strange light in the sky. Later, an elderly neighbor discovers an unusual tree in her backyard that the local librarian says belongs to a species extinct for hundreds of millions of years – leaving everyone befuddled.

Things take another turn one stormy night when the neighborhood’s power goes out – a typical inconvenience that becomes far more concerning the next morning when the Platts discover their water is out, too. Puzzled, Denise and Greg begin searching the neighborhood – she to check on their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Huddleston, and he to search for their lost dog, Starbuck.

It doesn’t take long, though, for mom and dad to come rushing back to the house. Denise discovers Mrs. Huddleston dead on the floor, with bloody dinosaur tracks leading away, while Greg encounters a large feathered dinosaur searching for its next meal.

“What is happening?” Audrey asks after they frantically return.

“I don’t know,” her mom responds.

The unthinkable has happened: Their neighborhood has somehow been transported back to the age of dinosaurs, and the prehistoric creatures are doing what comes naturally – hunting for food.

The Platts board up their house with nails and wooden planks, hoping to keep the creatures outside. But one big question remains: How will they get back to 1982?

The rest of the film plays out like a modern-day Jurassic Park, as the family searches for answers while prehistoric predators descend on their neighbors and turn the street into a battleground for survival.

Photo Credit: ©Warner Bros

It Offers a Worthwhile Lesson for Families

Scripture urges us to appreciate the present (Psalm 90:12) and not take the blessings around us for granted (Ecclesiastes 9:9, James 4:14) – and yet, so often, we do exactly that, getting busy and distracted and failing to love those around us as God calls us to do. Sadly, it’s often not until we face trials and tragedy that we recognize what we had all along. Often, it takes trials to shift our perspective from the temporary to the eternal.

Of course, none of us will face what the Platts do – a trial set in prehistoric times – but nevertheless, their extraordinary ordeal does serve to bring them together. Eventually.

Without television or school or Greg’s side jobs or Denise’s typewriter – remember, it’s set in 1982 – the Platts are stripped of their everyday distractions and forced to cling to one another as they search for answers and a way back home. That doesn’t mean everything suddenly becomes easy – Greg and Denise have one or two more arguments while boarded up inside their home – but their crisis gradually reminds them of what matters most.

The movie also offers powerful lessons about courage and sacrifice, as we watch mom and dad risk their lives to protect their children – and even one another.

Photo Credit: ©Warner Bros

It Pushes the PG-13 Rating for Families

Any movie that includes scenes of dinosaurs chasing humans probably won’t land a G or PG rating – but the filmmakers behind The End of Oak Street unnecessarily push its PG-13 boundaries with content that will turn away some families.

The film contains more coarse language than its Jurassic Park and Jurassic World cousins, including an f-bomb (details below).

It also gives us a lengthy scene of two giant dinosaurs mating, as Greg and Denise laugh at the spectacle and even pose for a picture in front of it. (“They’re doing it,” she says.) It’s played for humor, but parents of younger children may not find it nearly as funny.

Of course, the film contains several violent scenes, too, as we watch a dinosaur bite a neighbor’s head, another eats someone’s leg, and dead bodies litter the street.

Meanwhile, the movie offers a couple of faith-centric scenes.

“God's not going to let us die here,” Greg tells his family before Denise quickly retorts: “You only go to church at Christmas.” Still, the words reassure Greg’s son, who responds, “I believe, Dad.”

Later, as Audrey bandages a neighbor’s teenage girl’s leg, the girl asks, “Audrey, do you believe in God?” Audrey’s brother – knowing the girl goes to a Catholic school and wanting to win her approval – speaks up: “I do!” Audrey, though, answers “not really,” and the neighbor girl adds, “Yeah, sometimes I don’t, either.”

Still, The End of Oak Street offers an original plot with a handful of solid lessons. If you can overlook the sophomoric content, it’s an entertaining summer ride.

Rated PG-13 for some strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language, and suggestive material. Language details: H-ll (11), f-word (1), s–t (8), d–n (7), a– (1), SOB (1), OMG (3), misuse of “God” (1).

Entertainment rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Family-friendly rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Photo Credit: ©Warner Bros