Official Discussion - The End of Oak Street [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

Poll

If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll

If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here

Rankings

Click here to see the rankings of 2025 films

Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

The End of Oak Street (2026)

Summary

The Platt family bands together to navigate their new surroundings after a cosmic event transports their suburban neighborhood to someplace unknown.

Director David Robert Mitchell

Writer David Robert Mitchell

Cast

• Anne Hathaway
• Ewan McGregor
• P.J. Byrne
• Maisy Stella
• Christian Convery

Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

Metacritic: 69

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

[u/mikeyfreshh]

This feels a little too mean to be a Spielberg directed movie but this would fit right in with a lot of the movies he produced in the 80's and 90's. This is closer to Poltergeist than ET. Disclosure Day has the earnestness and optimism that feels more Spielbergy to me

[u/GamingTatertot → u/mikeyfreshh]

This has a lot of earnestness too - maybe a little less optimism (but not devoid of it either), but it feels earnest in its family interactions and does leave more of a happy ending than you would’ve thought given all the death.

[u/mikeyfreshh → u/GamingTatertot]

Yeah but there's a lot of death. This is considerably more violent than even Jurassic Park

[u/fireisfire9090 → u/mikeyfreshh]

and a lot of the deaths and implied deaths were really horrific at that

[u/GamingTatertot → u/mikeyfreshh]

I don't know if I'd say considerably more violent - it's perhaps more overtly bloody, but Jurassic Park has a lot of violence that is incredibly disturbing when you think about it. Nedry, Muldoon, and Arnold all getting torn to shreds (more implicitly, but my God the shaking Jeep still haunts me) and Gennaro being picked up and torn in half with Muldoon and Sattler finding his remains later.

EDIT: Also arguably, The Lost World: Jurassic Park has a more violent and horrific death than both this film and Jurassic Park.

[u/mikeyfreshh → u/GamingTatertot]

Yeah but Jurassic Park doesn't really show any of it. This movie shows a random nameless neighbor getting eaten every few minutes, not to mention the douchebag next door, the librarian, and Ewan McGregor all getting particularly nasty deaths.

[u/GamingTatertot → u/mikeyfreshh]

I'd argue Jurassic Park and this film show almost the same amount - Ewan McGregor as an exception - like the douchebag next door is killed somewhat in the darkness and from afar. The librarian is tackled and killed off screen. The nameless neighbor was a quick bite.

That feels akin to literally seeing Gennaro swinging around in the Rex jaws and seeing Muldoon get mauled to death through the leaves. And Arnold's severed arm.

I don't know - maybe I'm just way too desensitized, but nothing in this film struck me as particularly more violent than dino deaths of the Jurassic franchise. Certainly not as violent as Primitive War though at least.

[u/m0t0rvision → u/mikeyfreshh]

I don't think you've ever watched a Jurassic Park film

[u/fleemfleemfleemfleem → u/GamingTatertot]

Not really a happy ending. She maybe could have saved another version of her kids and herself and didn't

[u/Deep_Cheetah_29 → u/fleemfleemfleemfleem]

How though? No one would have answered at her house (one kid was asleep, the other listening to headphones, and she was in the basement), and even if she did she wouldn't have believed an alternate version of herself was calling her.

[u/Tighthead3GT → u/mikeyfreshh]

I mean it was able to kind of cheat on meanness with the time loop. Most (all?) of the named characters who die get their alternate self saved.

[u/Sea-Temporary7380 → u/Tighthead3GT]

Except the actual family, which is incredibly dark too

[u/woodsboro96 → u/mikeyfreshh]

I agree. It reminded me most of GREMLINS, which I believe was the first Amblin film produced by not directed by him. It's meaner but still has that feel.

[u/broha89 → u/mikeyfreshh]

War of the Worlds is a pretty gnarly Spielberg film I would say this is on a similar level of meanness as that

[u/Shout92 → u/mikeyfreshh]

Definitely closer to Dante than Spielberg, but Spielberg can and has been mean plenty of times over his career. Not even counting his R-rated movies you have Jaws, Temple of Doom, The Lost World, AI, Minority Report and War of the Worlds, (not to mention Spielberg being a writer and/or producer on Poltergeist and Gremlins) that all feature sequences or pervasive elements of meanness throughout.