At the Movies: There are glowing orbs that are somehow portals back to the present
The End of Oak Street.
The start of this film is both clever and deceptive.
Opening with a neighbourhood block party on the titular Oak Street, the audience is deprived of easy exposition to the extent that we’re not even sure what era we are witnessing in American suburbia.
It’s gradually revealed as being the early Eighties but the audience are spared cliches like a close up of a Rubik’s cube or synth pop on the soundtrack.
Equally nailing down the genre remains deliberately elusive too.
Are we in for a domestic drama about the disintegration of the marriage of the perfect-looking Platts as parents Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) harbour secrets from each other?
Or could this be a state of the nation case study about the illusion of the American dream under Reagan?
Beneath a veneer of civility, there is plenty of tension in the neighbourhood too, with disputes about dogs and fences hinting at deeper divides.
However, all of this perfectly watchable domestic strife gets sideswiped once a wave of unusual lightning washes over the suburban enclave.
Since the trailers and posters for the film clearly give this away, I feel freed to reveal that what follows is firmly in the realm of science fiction.
You see, it seems the entire neighbourhood has been transported in both time and place by the cosmic event.
It’s a slow, dawning realisation for the Platts. Only confirmed when they try and drive away from the danger.
They find their entire district is suddenly surrounded by dense primordial swamp.
What emerges from this ancient ecosystem means that humans are no longer at the top of the food chain.
In fact, they are back on the menu as a variety of dinosaurs feast on the Platts’ friends and neighbours.
Denise and Greg park all their grievances instantly to concentrate on keeping their kids alive.
It would be no surprise if your mind jumped to this all sounding a bit like a ‘Jurassic World’ premise.
I contend that this smaller nimbler effort actually shows the way forward for the bigger franchise.
‘Oak St’ is a bit ragged and rugged compared to the slicker dinosaur heavy hitter but it feels more alive.
The Platts react like normal people while the onscreen predators look a little weirder and wilder than their counterparts in the longer-running saga.
There is some ingenuity to how the action is staged too.
Like when a super long slug pours itself silently into a house and slithers down halls past an oblivious Platt family, the tension is brilliantly built.
In terms of explaining itself, the film offers nothing.
There are glowing orbs that are somehow portals back to the present.
A bit easy and convenient perhaps.
But one orb is put to good use.
The last act has a surprise in store with a twist that actually delivers a real and surprisingly emotional ending.
Like some of the special effects, ‘The End of Oak Street’ isn’t perfect.
It has rough edges but it has some heart, humour and humanity.
