In David Robert Mitchell's The End of Oak Street, the Platt family and the rest of the Fruitvale neighbourhood are mysteriously sent back in time to the Jurassic period. With the threat of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, they must run for their lives before it all takes over.
The End of Oak Street draws on the old pulpy conventions of Hollywood, most significantly the films of Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis from the 1980s, in which American suburbia becomes the crux of a conflict larger and stranger than its people. It uses its time to explore the Platt family in turmoil, where the father and mother are nearing the potential of divorce, and their children are the most affected by the drama. It's handled very well in the film, to the point where the dinosaurs and sci-fi elements feel like icing on the cake, the necessary plot device to heal this family.
The action set pieces are well made, largely because you feel the peril and terror they inflict on the central family. It's impossible not to root for the Platts to be complete by the end of this film. The cast, especially Anne Hathaway (in her best performance of the year) and Ewan McGregor, add great depth to these moments.
The End of Oak Street is more accessible and wholesome fare for Mitchell, whose previous independent works, It Follows and Under the Silver Lake, operate on genre-bending surrealism - but it's also pleasantly indulgent, from frequently utilising split diopter to enhance conversation scenes, to extended reaction shots of its actors in moments you least expect.
The film is quite strange too when you observe it through the lens of science fiction. I have a lot of questions about the logic of the device it used. I'm unsure if all of it is feasible in practical situations, but it's apt with the kind of energy they're going for in this movie. The End of Oak Street can be all over the place in its mechanics, but it's still a thrilling and great time at the movies.
Rating: “The End of Oak Street” gets ★★★★☆.
“The End of Oak Street” is now showing in New Zealand cinemas.
Featured images from Warner Bros.
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