The Movie Guru: ‘The End of Oak Street’ does better sci-fi, but ‘The Last House’ still gripping

‘The End of Oak Street‘

The characters in “The End of Oak Street” aren’t happy to see the dinosaurs, but you will be.

Though it’s not actually affiliated with the franchise, the sci-fi adventure movie is secretly the “Jurassic Park” movie we’ve been waiting for for years. The family at the center of the story has real heart, there’s flashes of character depth, and the dino action is more exciting than anything in the “Jurassic” sequels. It’s darker than some of the ’80s classics it feels inspired by (it’s written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, best known for the absolutely chilling horror movie “It Follows”) but there are also moments of real sweetness and hope. Add in a great ending and a fantastic performance by Anne Hathaway, and you have a dino adventure worth watching.

The movie focuses on a suburban family in the early 1980s, highlighting both their troubles and their relationships with each other. Slowly, the movie reveals that something strange is happening in their neighborhood, culminating in a state of affairs where they have to fight for their lives.

Hathaway is fantastic as the mother of the family, struggling with a strained marriage and secret writerly aspirations. Still, it’s clear how much she loves her family, and the tension between the two (and the attempt to resolve them) fuels the most interesting arc in the movie. Hathaway balances it beautifully, keeping her both likable and deeply relatable.

No matter how much you like dinosaurs, you’re still going to want her and the people she loves to win.

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Grade: Three stars (out of four)

‘The Last House’ (Netflix)

One of the new nightmare triggers COVID handed the world was the fear of being locked in your house forever.

Exploring that fear is the most interesting part of “The Last House,” a sci-fi spin on the genre from director Louis Leterrier. The sci-fi portion of the movie isn’t terribly well thought out — even abandoning any attempt at an explanation would have been far more effective — but the human drama is gripping. These are good, likable people, and you can’t help but root for them even as they get closer and closer to the end of their respective ropes. At the same time, their ingenuity in the face of deepening crisis is both engaging and a surprising source of hope.

We’re briefly introduced to the center of the story — a mom, a dad, and two kids — before the crisis hits. A sudden storm makes it so the family and all their neighbors are sealed into their homes, unable to open doors or windows or even go through a wall. They’re prepared to ride out a few months of this, helping and supporting each other, but as months turn into years, they realize they’re going to have to do something drastic.

Wagner Moura and Greta Lee are great as the parents, bringing a lot of nuance to both their characters. Their house almost serves as its own character, changing and crumbling and adapting to the increasingly dire circumstances. It’s almost a reflection of the family that lives in it, a mirror for their fear and desire to survive in the face of impossible odds.

Grade: Two and a half stars (out of four)

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Denver Film Critics Society and the Utah Film Critics Association. Drop her a line at themovieguruslc@gmail.com.