Summer audiences want one thing and one thing only…dinosaurs wreaking havoc.
Okay, so maybe that’s not the only thing they want, but it’s on the list! And David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) appears ready to provide with The End of Oak Street.
The fourth feature from Mitchell stars Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella and Christian Convery as a suburban family who awaken one morning to discover their street has been sucked up and dropped into an era of dinosaurs and danger. Together, they must find a way back to the present, or face becoming extinct.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to check out a preview of The End of Oak Street with Mitchell and producer J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) in attendance!
When it comes to what inspired the film, Mitchell said, “I’d always wanted to make a dinosaur film. A few years ago, I was walking through our neighborhood. I was passing by this house and this garage, and it was just an interesting little alleyway and some garbage cans, and I was struck by this image of a dinosaur there. I thought, oh, I want to write a film that feels the way that this feels to me in this moment.”
Whatever Mitchell felt in that moment, I’m into it, because the footage I saw, quite simply, thrilled me.
The footage we were shown picks up the morning after a nasty storm. The Platt family gathers around the breakfast table, concerned for their neighbors and their missing dog, Starbuck. Finished eating, Hathaway and McGregor set out to investigate.
At first, the neighborhood appears quiet. Perhaps a little too quiet. Nearby, hot steam pours from somewhere in the earth out of a damaged section of the street. Hathaway decides to check on an elderly neighbor, while McGregor continues the search for the family pet.
Upon approaching the neighbor’s house, Hathaway misses the reflection of a large animal on the other side of the street behind her. Once inside, she discovers the neighbor dead, blood streaking the floor and the back door clawed to hell. She grabs a shotgun and takes off.
At the same time, McGregor encounters the predator that likely got the poor old woman…a massive raptor (accurately covered in feathers!). It senses him in an instant, and a chase begins.
Rushing through the streets, Hathaway and McGregor run past an unaware family packing up the car for the day. One unfortunate neighbor becomes raptor food as they step outside to check on the commotion. Hunted by multiple raptors now, the Platts arrive at the front door, banging for their children to let them in. Just as the raptors are about to strike, the door opens, and they burst inside.
The eyes of the family all meet as panic sets in. Their lives have just been completely flipped upside down. What was once the sunny, safe street they called home is now something else entirely.
Through it all, Michael Giacchino’s electric score harkens back to John Williams’ gripping work during the most pulse-pounding moments of Jurassic Park.
Unwilling to stay put, the Platts load up the car and take off. Each direction they look, chaos erupts. Dinosaurs eating neighbors. Cars crashing. And at every turn, a sudden appearance of Mesozoic jungle where a street used to be. Finally, they stop at the edge of a cliff, where a clean cut has been made through houses and vehicles alike. Below, massive dinosaurs roam.
Somehow, some way, the Platts and their street have been transported back in time. All around them, a prehistoric danger lurks. There is no escape. For the first time in their lives, their idyllic street has become a prison.
By the time the fourteen minutes of footage had ended, I felt like I had just finished a marathon. Heart pounding, breath short, and not just a result of thirty years of eating garbage, but legitimate, masterfully executed suspense. Of course, the 4DX seats rocking and rolling through the whole thing helped. Either way, The End of Oak Street had just accomplished something for me that the last few Jurassic Park films hadn’t…it thrilled me all the way down to the core of that kid who first fell in love with dinosaurs upon seeing Jurassic Park. No, I am in no way putting Mitchell’s latest on the level of Spielberg’s world-altering classic, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say those fourteen minutes felt like Jurassic Park meets the suburban family terror of Poltergeist.
Good on the filmmakers, because that’s exactly the intent.
During their chat, Abrams mentioned that the film gave him Poltergeist and Spielberg’s Amblin vibes while reading the script. But, before you go thinking this is simply a monster movie from Mitchell that’s all about the scares, Abrams instead describes it as “a people movie with monsters”. Both filmmakers assure the film is focused first on the characters, with “a big heart at its core”.
Abrams also compares The End of Oak Street to a great Twilight Zone episode, calling it “fun and thrilling and sort of unexpected”.
After seeing the footage, I wholeheartedly agree. Here’s hoping those wild fourteen minutes reflect the thrilling adventure of the rest of the film.
The End of Oak Street stomps into theaters on August 14th via Warner Bros.
Categorized:Editorials