She may already have an Oscar, but 2026 is shaping up to be Anne Hathaway’s finest year. She co-starred in the massive hits The Odyssey and The Devil Wears Prada 2, snuck in the indie darling Mother Mary and is gearing up for the scandalous thriller Verity. In between, she’s tangling with dinosaurs in The End of Oak Street.
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor in The End of Oak Street Find Themselves in a Jurassic Quark
While Hathaway’s 2026 roles share little in common, The End of Oak Street has one similarity to her turn in The Odyssey: an absent husband. In Oak Street, that’s merely metaphorical. Greg Platt (Ewan McGregor) is distant, drinking and evasive; Denise (Anne Hathaway), his wife and a wannabe author, is thinking of leaving him. The kids — recent high-school grad Audrey (Maisy Stella) and anxious teen Brian (Christian Convery) — absolutely know that the parents aren’t getting along.
The home is breaking, if not quite broken; suddenly, though, the neighborhood falls apart. Or, rather, it travels through time: The Platts are shaken from their beds by what appears to be a serious thunderstorm, only to discover that their immediate surroundings now seem to be located in the middle of a prehistoric jungle. In spurts, at least, this calms down the bickering; family drama tends to take a back seat when you’re running from megafauna.
It’s a Mess, But Who Can Say No to Thrilling Dinosaur Action?
Nits could certainly be picked; these characters are defined in the broadest of strokes, and nearly every moment of suspense is the result of someone not noticing several tons of beast directly behind them. The conclusion, too, is badly fumbled.
Those complaints ignore a fundamental rule, however: A movie about famous people running from dinosaurs is always good. (We will set certain Jurassic Park sequels aside for the purposes of this argument.) Hathaway, McGregor and Stella all commit fully, throwing themselves into the absurdity with determination; Hathaway even manages to find a bit of humanity amid the mayhem. It really is her year.
The End of Oak Street isn’t the equal of writer/director David Robert Mitchell’s masterpiece, the 2014 horror film It Follows, but there’s more than enough here to entertain. We only get so many big-screen dinosaurs; it’s best not to be too picky about them.
More Mysteries in Rose of Nevada, Plus More in Cinemas This Weekend
Rose of Nevada, a beguiling and atmospheric drama from British director Mark Jenkin, is just as high-concept as The End of Oak Street — but don’t expect much in the way of visual effects. In a hardscrabble Cornish fishing village, a small craft missing for 30 years unexpectedly returns; there’s no crew, and it seems that the vessel simply blinked out of the ’90s and into the present day. A mysterious captain (Francis Magee) appears and recruits a new crew (Callum Turner and George MacKay); after their maiden voyage, however, the modern men find themselves thrust back into the ’90s, where the villagers mistake them for the missing sailors. The otherworldly trappings dictate the confused, desperate emotion of the film, but the visuals tell the story: rust-covered ships, overgrown landscapes and decaying buildings.
It’s a meditative and somber film that will reward attentive, rapt viewing — and MacKay, best known as the lead in the war drama 1917, carries it with barely a word. Those in need of action (or explanation) may not be satisfied, but curious viewers will be richly rewarded.
But That’s Not All…
Also out this week, the comedy The Wrong Girls aims to recall the stoner comedies of the 1980s and ’90s — and it certainly has a strong enough cast. Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat lead the tale of mistaken identity amid altered perception, alongside supporting turns from LaKeith Stanfield, Seth Rogen, Kate McKinnon, Geena Davis, Kumail Nanjiani and even Cate Blanchett. Dylan Meyer, co-screenwriter of the well-received Moxie (and Stewart’s wife), writes and directs.
For the younger set — the much younger set — there’s big news, though parents may well take it as an opportunity for an in-theater nap. PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, the third big-screen caper for the canine law-enforcement team, makes its U.S. debut this weekend after rolling out globally. These movies aren’t particularly good, but that is hardly the point.
Plus a Look Back at Summer’s Films
The year’s box-office king will continue its reign this weekend, as Spider-Man: Brand New Day is expected to cruise to a third straight victory. If the gargantuan returns are any indication, the entire population of the United States has already seen it — but if you’re still on the fence, here’s our review. The End of Oak Street is expected to duke it out with Odysseus for second place, as The Odyssey continues its own stellar run; needless to say, we’re fans, you can read our review here. And what happened to last week’s highest-profile release, the romcom One Night Only? Messy online discourse and mediocre business — it debuted in third place last weekend and should drop like a stone. If you’re curious, read our review, but it’s not likely to convince you to buy a ticket.
Keep exploring this summer’s releases with Sean’s line-up of the summer blockbuster season.
Story by Sean Collier
Photos Courtesy of Daniel McFadden / Warner Bros.
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