A crisp and efficient survival thriller

It’s 1982, the year Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra Terrestrial came out, three years before the first Back to the Future movie, and 11 years before the inaugural Jurassic Park film. This is the year in which a wormhole brings dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures into the backyards of an American suburban town

The overnight arrival of the intruders adds to the drama within a boilerplate American family. Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) have a mildly strained marriage, and are keeping it together for the sake of their teenaged children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery). Faced with rampaging, perpetually hungry animals, the Platts muster together every available resource to escape. Only, they can’t.

David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street is an old-fashioned survival thriller that could well have been released in 1982 itself. While sketchy about the science behind the sudden appearance of creatures that are straight out of a palaeontology textbook, the film delivers on the undeniable thrill of watching people run for their lives.

The scale is never overwhelming. The visual effects are clean rather than being distracting. There are barely any extraneous characters or sub-plots.

The family dynamic is conservative, with Denise’s intrepid housewife one of the few concessions to modern sensibilities. The performances are in line with the overall goal of maximum impact through maximum economy.

Mitchell packs it all in within 99 minutes, wisely choosing against overstretching a movie that doesn’t extend itself beyond its basic premise. Some of the most gripping scenes take place early on, when the Platts find out what exactly is ruining their manicured lawns.

There are a couple of moments of sheer terror, especially when a very long eel-like creature drops in for a snack. There’s even an adorable dog, which has the same good timing as the Velociraptor named Blue in Jurassic World.

The End of Oak Street aims for and achieves clinical efficiency. The film bypasses the apocalyptic dread suggested by its title, instead alternating between hectic running and the occasional pause for group hugs.