The Love Hypothesis

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Love Hypothesis is a romance film that adapts Ali Hazelwood's bestselling novel of the same name. In this feature, Olive Smith winds up in a fake relationship with Dr. Carlsen (also known by students as Dr Evil). Olive hopes to convince two people close to her to develop their own relationship, while Carlsen plans to secure his grant for another year by playing the part of a man settling down. But what happens when there's some real chemistry between these two scientists...

I have a fair few misgivings about this film; the romance genre in general feels quite diluted at the moment. I talked about this with another film at the top of this year, People We Meet on Vacation. I see these trendy romance films coming out, spinning out of books that aren't really breaking ground on the genre too much. My issue is that romance films or novels often feel like they have to play by a certain rulebook at the moment, hitting all of the right tropes for the sake of it. Enemies to lovers? Check. One room/bed? Check. Fake dating? Check. Miscommunication? Check. There is rarely a moment where it doesn't feel like we're just walking a similar path that all of these feel-good tales of love have walked before. That's not necessarily a bad thing all of the time, but it matters when the story elements that are unique to this individual story aren't interesting. There is no part of me that really believed in the setting or the characters playing within it. The concept that Olive is an upcoming scientist with something groundbreaking to give to pancreatic cancer research is rarely believable; it also seems unlikely that Dr Carlsen is capable of being a Professor - let alone one who is kicking out or failing a student every other day. I want to believe in what's playing out, but the film just wants to coyly tip us towards chapter 16 most of the time.

That isn't to say this film isn't without something to fall head over heels for. If you're looking for a book boyfriend who doesn't let out his feelings until at least half of the story is done, who growls at anyone who threatens you and who will chivalrously cut his keynote speech short to come support you, then you've found your man. Tom Bateman's portrayal of Dr Adam Carlsen was what really kept me hooked throughout. It's a very fictional, over-the-top role, but it's clear Bateman is really just having some fun with it. The result is the sort of character who would leap perfectly out of the cartoon covers of any romance novel. I also have to say that for all of the narrative failings of The Love Hypothesis (are we seriously still doing the miscommunication trope?), it is actually very sweet. You are often rooting for Adam and Olive to wind up in one another's arms, which is only spurred on by their sweet remarks, teasing and flirting. Lili Reinhart leads this film as Olive, and she seems most in her element when she gets to flirt or toy with a comedic moment. Likewise, Reinhart is one of the major reasons I struggled to believe the greater story of Love Hypothesis: She's not much of a scientist figure. Despite that, there is no denying what she can achieve as a leading performer.

This is a film in which none of the characters generally feel like they'd fit into the university setting that is being painted. But that doesn't mean the performances are bad; in fact, I was pretty delighted by this cast for the most part. Rachel Marsh and Jaboukie Young-White play Reinhart's onscreen best friends, and they both really do a good job at bridging some of the quieter scenes between big moments. Young-White's take on Malcolm is one of conflict; he struggles to take personal responsibility for himself throughout the feature. Marsh and Reinhart, on the other hand, have such an authentic bond of friendship; I also just found Marsh to be a light, hilarious presence. Duvernay didn't fit into this group as neatly, ultimately landing the role of 'the other boyfriend in the group'. Arty Froushan's take on the slimy Harvard Doctor who sexually harasses Olive can't be a comfortable role to play, but Froushan makes for one hell of an antagonist.

The Love Hypothesis could have been more if it tried to have any semblance of style whatsoever. There are incredible moments from the soundtrack; artists like Gracie Abrams, Selena Gomez and HAIM send this film into the stratosphere. But I never found myself feeling the same way about the score. I could load up any direct-to-streaming romance film on Amazon or Netflix and hear the exact same musical themes blasted at me. It reads like there isn't an effort desired to stand out from the crowd. The director of this feature has a TV background, and it absolutely shows in every frame of the film. I could not tell you more than a couple of scenes that were well shot in this. Everything looks so basically framed, simple and like the purpose was to cobble the scene together and move on to the next one. The editing cuts are simple, and I don't think the team behind post-production had ever heard of the art of colour grading your film. The Love Hypothesis is a visual eyesore that knows people will watch it because of the book, Reinhart and Bateman. There's not much else: happily ever after kiss, cut to credits.

Despite some better efforts from the cast, this is a romance as shallow as they come. I would give The Love Hypothesis a 3.5/10.

Resident Evil

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Resident Evil marks the most recent attempt to adapt the video game series of the same name. In this feature, Bryan, a medical courier, finds himself stranded with an important delivery bound for Raccoon City. Plagued by monstrosities and the dead returning to life, Bryan is caught in a fight for survival.

This feature is directed by Zach Cregger, who has directed such hits as Barbarian and Weapons. Cregger has quickly ascended to horror royalty, bringing a fresh approach to the genre that is spawning many other inspired horror films. Resident Evil is Cregger's first time playing in an established world, and he pours nothing but love into this venture. This is a horror film that feels like a descent into darkness. That opening sequence in which his car is flooding the forest with shades of cool white and neon red is gorgeous; made even more so as we watch the vehicle steadily plunge onwards into shadow. That is the sort of film this Resident Evil is. At every turn there is an incredibly inventive set piece brimming with possibility. Comedic choices are really carefully woven through; the tension you feel throughout rides high, and even the jump scares are so well earned. This is a movie that plays like a character moving through video game levels, advancing in difficulty but also skill. The fact that design, atmosphere and experience are all at the forefront of this piece shows that Cregger knows exactly what the audience is after, and rewards them for it. There are few sequences this year that impress me more than the zombies throwing themselves off the buildings towards Bryan.

There is so much to marvel at when it comes to Cregger's vision here, but the film is also made so impressive because it anchors on one character. Bryan is a young guy, pretty unassuming, chasing work for money. His major moral conflict for the film is that his girlfriend Michelle has discovered she is pregnant, and Bryan does not seem certain in himself that he is ready to be a father. Yet, across the film, Bryan is transporting life in the package he is responsible for; he sacrifices himself in an effort to save a child, and he is plagued by a monstrous creature that is family itself coming together. Bryan becomes both haunted by and proves capable of the fear he has from the top of the film: his future as a father. Austin Abrams leads this film in what might be his best role to date. Abrams leads an absolutely relentless feature that simply could not work without his ability as a performer. The way he would bumble through an obstacle, or curse to himself or just do his very best made him such an enduring protagonist right through to the film's tragic ending.

Monsters have always made Resident Evil, and I really enjoyed just how much work went into crafting a good balance of practical and visual effects that brought these beings to life. Whether it was an amalgamation of bodies that had come to life, a maternity ward riddled with horrors, or someone progressively mutating into an abomination moments before credits, this film really had many tricks up its sleeve. But it takes far more than a good-looking creature to really elevate a horror experience beyond the rest; in this film I could not get enough of the score. The Holladays, Hays and Ryan scored this feature, and it is such a thrill. Even when a scene plays light, you feel arrested, waiting for something to upend. It spikes moments of adrenaline, and it pushes those more emotional scenes to a really heartfelt place.

Something that I do think rings true of a Zach Cregger film is that he has mastered horror-comedy; it's an incredible mix. But sometimes there can be moments where the humour is just too in your face and shatters a tense scene. There's a point in the film where people who work for the Umbrella Corporation (Hauser & Reis) wade in, shooting exposition from the hip and pushing into comedic banter territory. This really made a middle moment in the film lose course before finding its feet once more. It was probably more disappointing in the final sequence when bumbling scientists led by Zach Cherry make a very tragic moment a bit lighter than it should have been. This film shines most of the time, but it's only when it really takes its eyes off the tone that this thing really starts to waver.

This is comfortably the best Resident Evil film we've ever had, and one of the top horror features of the year to boot. I would give Resident Evil a 7.5/10.

Practical Magic 2

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Practical Magic 2 adapts Alice Hoffman's novel 'The Book of Magic' and serves as the sequel to Practical Magic (1998). In this film, Sally's daughters are all grown up and have no memory that their family practises magic. However, when Kylie falls in love and her boyfriend is sent into a life-threatening coma, she steals a cursed book in an effort to save him. As Kylie tumbles into a magical world she doesn't know, Sally and Gillian rush to save her.

There's a weirdly authentic return to the 90s throughout most of the film; not a yearning for nor a love letter to the 90s. This was a 90s film dressed in modern-day finery. Practical Magic 2 is a portal back to another time for filmmaking, warts and all. This was a gentle fantasy film, paired with romance, adventure and family elements. All these elements simmered together slowly over the course of the film: a veritable quest to save an Owens woman from her own misadventure and broken heart. You get those trademarks of the 90s along with this: forced romance subplots, a really silly but sincere type of humour and these long exchanges of dialogue that rarely push the plot forward but give you the chance to live in the world a little. What I loved the absolute most when watching this was that this is a film that is pretty unabashed about tackling things character and theme first. The Owens women are the heart of this feature, and they are constantly displaying a deep love for one another. There is a celebration in their sense of family, a tie that goes incredibly deep. Watching them recreate the iconic umbrella scene from the roof should tug on most viewers' heartstrings.

The problem this film makes by stepping back in time is that it is doomed to repeat many of the mistakes of the past. Practical Magic 2 is quite a slog at the best of times; it has no sense of urgency to the threat our protagonists face, nor does it feel particularly purposeful with the pace of its storytelling. The start of the film is a really jumbled reintroduction to familiar faces while loosely tying in an important plot element via a character death. The film is then quite a slow chase for a range of characters, with dawdling romance along the way. The film deals with memory-loss plots, the classic family curse, Sally falling in love (again!) and, probably most annoyingly, introduces an overly convoluted antagonist (Solly McLeod) who is trying to steal the Owens family magic. It's a busy watch, and you feel that sense of being too scattered, too messy, to come together. Rather than learn from the original, pay tribute and try something new, this is just completely making similar narrative choices. Even Sandra Bullock as Sally Owens feels a bit outdated. Bullock looks like she is struggling to re-engage with the material; her habit of stammering through lines or only pushing out half a line to appear flustered wears thin.

Bullock isn't the only returning cast member who struggles to recapture the magic. Dianne Wiest returns as Aunt Jet, and it is a rare scene where I felt like she perfectly understood what was happening around her. Wiest just seemed a bit out of sorts and lost, which made for a bit of an awkward start to the feature. Maisie Williams was cast as Antonia, one of Sally's daughters. But Williams is essentially abandoned from the main storyline very early on, and never gets a chance to really stand out. By contrast, Joey King, who plays Sally's other daughter, Kylie, really does well in this film. King has really had a myriad of roles over the years, but she proves capable as an Owens woman with a broken heart trying to find her own way. Some of the best witches in the film had varying screen time. Stockard Channing's return as Aunt Franny is a complete contrast to Wiest. Channing has a quick wit, plays eccentricity well and manages to be this emotional caretaker for her small family. The other witch I had in mind is Nicole Kidman, who plays Gilly, and gives what I consider the best performance of the feature. She is so magnetic, effortlessly wild and manages a wicked sense of silliness and humour. There are also a couple of romantic leads in Maridueña and Pace; the former feels a bit generic, and the latter has no chemistry with Bullock whatsoever. Watching Lee Pace hand Sandra Bullock a gravy train filled with custard as a romantic gesture was bizarre.

There is a clear visual upgrade this time around; the magic is used more often, and it looks great. The visual effects really are quite polished and never too lofty, even when the film descends into a ridiculous magic off with the bad guy. While the cameras that are being used are vastly more modern, the visual style is markedly poor. There are so many shots here with ugly framing, scrabbling to keep things in the shot or just showing a general lack of creativity with what should be fantastical material. The editing doesn't always splice a scene together nicely either; there are some sequences that make the navigation of a setting poorer. Yet, moments like the musical score harkening back to the adventurous and whimsical style of the 90s are really special. Even the soundtrack, with its collection of iconic female artists ballading their raw power for the world, feels potent. Nothing is quite as iconic as 'Coconut' sung by Harry Nilsson. Midnight margaritas, baby!

In spite of a big, swirly magic third-act showdown, this remains a beautiful continuation about family and sisterhood. I would give Practical Magic 2 a 6.5/10.

By Any Means

 

This review may contain spoilers!

By Any Means is a crime biopic set in the wake of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, in which black Americans are still being blocked from the equal opportunity to vote in some states. After a hate crime results in murder in Mississippi, a Federal agent is paired with a mobster on the FBI's books to round up those responsible.

This is a film that takes some pieces of real historical information and weaves a civil rights era biopic out of it that may be approximate to the truth at times. The start of this film does two really different things that kind of demonstrate the main issue with By Any Means. After a sizzle reel from the era demonstrating students who were killed trying to help African-Americans gain the ability to vote is played, we get to see Mark Wahlberg as Scarpa. Wahlberg has that iconic accent, a bit of a mean swagger to him and a ruthlessness that fits the role to a tee. If you can look beyond the bad hair and the prosthetic nose, Wahlberg is here to be a fine lead. But make no mistake, Wahlberg is just here to give this film a bit of an adrenaline spike - to provide 'cool factor'. The fact that he then disappears for twenty minutes while we are delivered the building blocks of a civil rights film is a significant tonal shift the film never stops struggling with. The story around black Americans fighting for their chance to vote, and the animosity in some communities from Americans who still held hatred for black Americans, is delivered in a manner that feels a bit tired. It's not interested in delivering a story that really plunges into those themes; rather, it just wants to give us a blunt-instrument revenge feature.

If there's one thing working for this film, it's the conflict of character between our two leads: Wahlberg and Abdul-Mateen II. Wahlberg's role is a very morally bankrupt figure who believes in vigilante justice and cares little for the civil rights matters he finds himself operating within. Special Agent Wayne Strider, portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, is a character who is somewhat reserved and has a very black-and-white moral code. There are instances where he still feels diminished by his fear of being black in a state that has a major Klan presence, and the movie shows him grow in his aggression and drive to mete out his own justice. This pair is really all this movie has going for it at times, but even their dynamic has its flaws. Watching Wahlberg's role debate Martin Luther King Jr. versus Malcolm X felt simplistic and ill-conceived. The framing of Strider growing more capable of fighting for himself due to proximity to Scarpa is deeply troubling from a thematic lens and adds nothing to the civil rights story at the heart of this piece. The fact that this film has the two leads punish two suspect Klansmen by putting them into homosexual positions with one another felt like an odd move in a feature made in 2026 that hadn't corroborated that said event actually happened.

There's a real lack of artistry to this feature, and I often found myself a bit bored by what was visually presented. The camerawork here is dull and tends towards very simple blocking for the framing. There are some moments where the film tends towards action, where the camerawork made the sloppy stunt work quite apparent. The editing is the biggest visual weak point, with some scenes feeling extremely choppy due to poor cutting. The wailing trumpets across the film were more painful than thematic from a musical score standpoint. The soundtrack quietly places the time period but does little else; although 'By Any Means' by The Isley Brothers and David Kushner really caps the film off nicely. 

There are some seasoned performers in this who really stand out, even if they are a bit underutilised. Giancarlo Esposito, portraying this empathetic and inspirational pillar of his community pushing for change, is more than confident in his wheelhouse. Ethan Embry has played some slippery fish in his time, but this Klan toy store owner was reprehensible and one of the better performances in the cast. LisaGay Hamilton presented a witness who comes forward to give some justice and just doesn't manage to land enough of an impression. I was disappointed to see Nicole Beharie have little more to do than be Abdul-Mateen II's concerned wife at home. David Strathairn and Josh Lucas also jump in and out to give some generic top-brass FBI performances.

In case you felt your civil rights biopics were missing some schlocky action, here's Mark Wahlberg with a bad wig and a fake nose for your entertainment purposes. I would give By Any Means a 4/10.

The Dog Stars

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Dog Stars is an adaptation of a novel of the same title, written by Peter Heller. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the majority of humanity has been wiped out by a virus. Hig, an engineer and Cessna pilot, lives a relatively isolated life as a survivor. After an attack, he seeks out to find the mysterious voice calling him to a place known as 'Grand Junction', hoping to find a brighter side of humanity.

As I watch the production credits fall away, The Dog Stars opens to a misty, peaceful morning. Jacob Elordi and his dog, Jasper, walk about an airstrip fuelling a Cessna aircraft. Hozier's 'Like Real People Do' plays gently as this unfolds, and completely soars as the plane ascends into the sky. A soft colour palette unfurls before us; majestic hills, rolling green planes, the soft grey and blues of those early hours. And one bright, optimistic little Cessna floating in the air. Those are the opening minutes, and for just a moment, I felt so peaceful in Ridley Scott's post-apocalyptic world. 

It has been a few years since Ridley Scott sculpted a film I felt had a sense of beauty to it. But this is a film that really reminded me that Scott is a craftsman with a seasoned eye. I loved how immersive The Dog Stars is; how I felt a part of this dreary, little world. The camera captures vast, desolate landscapes and moments of civilisation lost in the city. Any scene with the Cessna looks picturesque, dream-like. When it glides on the wind, you just soar. This feature has a real sense of carrying you with the journey, inviting the audience to live with our characters. The guitar that strums gently, poignantly, over the film is another emotional thread. It gave the film a gentleness that really seemed at the heart of this story about a young man searching for hope.

If you're here to find a story that is going to break the mould on the post-apocalyptic genre, then Dog Stars just isn't for you. It's a movie that is comfortable with being simple and similar, both a strength and a flaw at times. This can mean there are stretches where the film slows and feels a bit practised, while others understand how to walk in this world rather well. I like that this is less an action film or a dusty bloodsport. The Dog Stars holds a pretty simple premise: when the world falls apart, will humans turn into selfish creatures or will they come together? Hig's journey is less about him as a character, and more about his wanderings fuelled by hope for a more optimistic future. The kill-or-be-killed way of living with Bangley wears thin on him and costs him the life of a loved one. His journey sees him connect with others and find love, before hordes of survivors aggressively descend upon him. His journey holds a moment of false promise to it, a pulpy cult-like faction that feels like it was poorly ripped out of a Zack Snyder film. The fact that both Hig and Bangley are ultimately on a journey to find community in the land they were already a part of is a nice bow placed upon all of this. Is the script always electric? No. Sometimes it really stumbles around in strange airport cults and takes forever to settle itself comfortably into the conclusion. But the journey is something I found myself enjoying being upon.

 While the cast isn't always perfectly suited, or their characters poorly drafted, I actually think the actors of The Dog Stars really served the feature well. None for me was better than Josh Brolin as Bangley. This gruff, cantankerous man felt like an end-of-days prepper, whose sour facade was steadily wearing down. I found Brolin the perfect face for this world that had worn people down. His action piece around defending the compound that was his home is the adrenaline spike of the film. Jacob Elordi proves a markedly competent protagonist as Hig. He is extremely reserved, yet holds wells of deep personal grief. I just sometimes wished that Elordi wouldn't pose or stare longingly after a sample of great acting from him; it held him back from being truly phenomenal. Margaret Qualley, on the other hand, proves to be the up-and-comer worth watching out for. Her character, Cima, holds a curiosity of the world that aligns well against Hig. Her own exploration of grief and how she has persevered is a strong driving force. This is a story with unique figures scattered about the world; Benedict Wong as a benevolent pillar of his community, Guy Pearce playing a grizzled and overly-protective father. Allison Janney even brings a clunkier part of the story to life by portraying a nightmarish antagonist who represents all the worst parts of this new world.

Ridley Scott toys with all the right ingredients when crafting this post-apocalyptic story. I would give The Dog Stars a 7.5/10.

Mutiny

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Mutiny follows Cole Reed, a former British soldier and police officer turned private security for the wealthy family of a commercial shipping fleet. When his boss dies in a hit, Cole sets out on his own to solve the case. He soon finds himself embroiled in a human trafficking ring that has been secretly running for years and needs a bald British badass to shut it down.

There are a lot of bullets, knives stab into bodies, and fists crack into jaws. All the ingredients that go into a Jason Statham action movie special. But if you're looking at that ingredient list, you're not going to be left thinking, "where's the salt?" Actually, you're going to be thinking, "where's the meat?" The absence of substance to this story is so blatant at this stage. I feel like I watch a Statham action piece churn through the same points over and over again. He's a tough but likeable guy, with a mysterious tough guy past. He leads a simple, happy life with an often older figure he perceives as akin to his family. The bad event happens. Suddenly Statham is on a big revenge spree against a rather unhinged bad guy. He often finds a leading lady along the way; she's tough enough to shoot at least one bad guy, but never quite as tough as Statham. Everything will work out; there'll be a twist that's so obvious your pet dog probably could guess it. And if you're lucky, Statham will end the film with a quick little one-liner that will fizzle, not sizzle. It's tough making soulless cash grab action, but someone has got to do it.

Admittedly, I'm pretty tough on Mutiny. I feel it is the latest in a long string of Jason Statham-led action features that have just abandoned trying for the sake of the audience. They feel like the story is prioritised last. However, this film really does have some violent pieces of action choreography that really impressed me. In fact, the stunt work of the film seems to be the real saving grace. Conflict has a bit of heat to it, and moves like electricity. If our characters are caught between shipping containers, it's a confined, messy brawl. There's a classic sequence of our main guy just picking off henchmen like he's shucking corn. And it's called Mutiny; of course, the final fight has Statham fighting with boat paraphernalia.

You have to give it up for the one constant in all of this: Jason Statham understands exactly how to deliver that everyman rough ' tough hero. He wears a basic action movie premise like a glove and knows how to have a mean edge while maintaining a bit of charisma. Statham was far from the best performance in all of this, however. I loved Ramon Tikaram as his first-act boss and father figure. Tikaram had such a quiet and gentle sensibility to him that really added an emotion to this film that just evaporated after the first fifteen minutes. I also had a soft spot for Adrian Lester's US Navy captain and his wry remarks about the events unfolding upon the central boat.

The design of the film only really came to life when the action was really being cranked up. Those moments were like watching the camera jolt to life. Which put the majority of the film into a rough and jarring comparison. There's only so many poorly framed close-ups of Statham's big bald head I could muster before wondering if the creative juices just weren't flowing here. This film is edited with all the care of a studio that just wants to see this thing pushed out the door. For that matter, the musical score gets a similar treatment. I really didn't feel much across this movie because there was no real effort to make this audio-visual medium really come to life.

I really cannot tell you what Annabelle Wallis was doing in this film other than ensuring the film could safely say it had managed to hire an actress. Wallis' character of Angie is a divorced Mum who traipses around freighter ships bemoaning her lack of visitation rights and occasionally sniping that she got 'fired from the Navy'. It's tough to understand why this character is here at the best of times; she's only on the human trafficking ship because one of the bad guy crew members called in sick (real tight criminal operation). Wallis tries the tough guy act, but it's just not really her bag. The film also fails to find an antagonist worth writing home about. Kluth's business baddie is paper-thin, while Kular's heel turn can be predicted within the first ten minutes of the film. The main antagonist played by Roland Møller is a ship captain who aggressively lurches around his boat, climbing ladders and making the most bizarre tactical decisions you've ever heard. Møller often seems a little unsure of what word is going to come out of his mouth; there are a lot of long pauses before dialogue that make his ability to deliver lines sound unimpressive.

If there's one thing I can depend on, it's that Jason Statham will show up every year with one of the worst action films I have ever watched. I would give Mutiny a 2.5/10.

The End Of Oak Street

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The End of Oak Street is a science-fiction thriller about an American 1980s neighbourhood suddenly being teleported 200 million years in the past. Now the American suburbs are going to have to contend with surviving dinosaurs.

I found End of Oak Street to be such a hilariously nonsensical film. This is the sort of movie that has a nutty premise and just does not know whether to play it straight or be in on its own absurdity. Across the film, there are so many moments where I found myself laughing at the film, and rarely any moments where I felt like I was laughing with it. Why does the local librarian know so much off the cuff about 200 million year old flora? Why does the film try to genuinely make a polaroid photo of Ewan McGregor standing in front of two dinosaurs having sex an emotional plot device? Why did the asshole neighbour get out on his roof to shoot at pteranodons? It's a movie that starts because vague solar flares have been happening, so of course they lead to prime American real estate being displaced through time. But don't fear, there are smaller time bubbles for our characters to throw themselves through and find their happy ending. It's a film that is quite comfortable with playing things on the nose; as dinosaurs start swarming the streets, we get an oblivious family climbing into a car whilst singing the Flintstones theme song.

Yet, there is an incredible sense of thrill to this feature at times. Those moments where the parents stalk through the early morning hours of the neighbourhood and we're greeted with glimpses of dinosaurs. Before finally having Ewan McGregor run for his life from a raptor with a baseball bat as his primary means of defence. There is a lethality to the dinosaurs, even if those moments come in drips and drabs. I do think a lot of this film would have worked more if it let itself be scarier. The scene in the librarian's house where the family becomes trapped is an excellent example of the sort of scenes that have you right on the edge of your seat. Even the moments of characters slowly walking about at night, trying to survive, have a good atmosphere to them, even if the scenes peppered throughout can be utterly hilarious.

This is a film that really dwarfs two fine actors in lead roles. I thought the little stereotypical American family who seem dysfunctional wears pretty thin. Ewan McGregor plays his part well, if not a little comically at times, as the loser Dad who's just trying his best. I actually had a lot of fun with PJ Byrne as Mel, the asshole neighbour who doesn't like the lead family very much. There are also some minor characters that are more puzzling than anything. Anne Gee Byrd as Denise's neighbour/debut novel editor is rather forgettable. While Jordan Alexa Davis' Jeanette character doesn't add anything of substance to the film. The two siblings often feel very offbeat; Christian Convery's role is a bit too pathetic for his own good, and Maisy Stella's closeted big sister doesn't feel entirely actualised. But it's Anne Hathaway as Denise who really shines in this film. She has a real intense streak that marks her as a natural survivor, while also finding the points she needs to appear more grounded as a suburban Mum. 

The special effects design for the dinosaurs is excellent; those were creatures that felt dangerous and looked a little bit distinct from other Jurassic-style films. But I was often finding myself disappointed with how this film was shot. There's a hideous scene in the second storey of the house where there's an intense close-up on a family member's face for half the screen for almost the entire scene. It's one glaring example amidst many poor shots across the feature. I also felt like the soundtrack could have been pondered on a bit more; watching Audrey tearfully sing 'Valerie' in the car did not have the effect the film was shooting for.

This is a film that often feels like a spoof of itself. I would give The End of Oak Street a 3.5/10.