"the result is a surprisingly intelligent, enormously entertaining science-fiction adventure that understands exactly why those classic Spielberg films continue to resonate"

There is something wonderfully nostalgic about The End of Oak Street, not simply because the film takes place in 1982, but because it feels like the kind of ambitious family science-fiction adventure that Steven Spielberg made us fall in love with decades ago.

Produced by J.J. Abrams, the film stars Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway as Greg and Denise, parents to Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), an ordinary family whose already complicated lives are thrown into extraordinary circumstances when prehistoric creatures begin appearing in their suburban neighbourhood.

Yes, there are dinosaurs.

Lots of films have dinosaurs. What surprised me about The End of Oak Street is just how much thought has gone into explaining why there are dinosaurs.

Rather than simply shrugging its shoulders and relying on some convenient science-fiction contrivance, the film grounds its admittedly improbable premise in theoretical physics. Maisy Stella’s Audrey provides one concise explanation involving a theory associated with the late Carl Sagan, wormholes and the displacement of matter through different points in time.

The film isn’t trying to prove the theory, nor does it expect anyone watching to be a theoretical physicist. It has an idea, explains enough for us to understand it and then gets on with telling its story.

More importantly, it follows its own rules.

That might sound like a small compliment, but it’s something science fiction doesn’t always manage particularly well. If you’re going to ask an audience to accept something impossible, establish the logic of your universe and stick to it. The End of Oak Street does exactly that, trusting us to remember what we’ve been told rather than repeatedly stopping to explain itself.

Even the decision to set the film in 1982 makes sense beyond an opportunity for some nostalgic production design. Put this story in the modern world and within minutes somebody would have a phone pointed at a dinosaur, the footage would be online and Oak Street would become an international media circus.

Removing modern technology allows the film to remain remarkably intimate. This isn’t about superheroes trying to save the universe; it’s about an ordinary family and their neighbours confronted with something they cannot possibly be prepared for.

And there is only so much an ordinary human can do against a dinosaur.

The film understands that.

Nobody suddenly develops superhuman abilities because the screenplay requires it. The weapons available to these people are the sorts of things they could reasonably get their hands on, and when violence erupts there is a genuine disparity between humans and creatures that vastly overpower them.

That makes The End of Oak Street surprisingly tense.

Writer/ Director David Robert Mitchell doesn’t rely upon an endless succession of jump scares either. Some of the film’s most effective sequences simply allow danger to develop, trusting anticipation and uncertainty to do the work. There are moments when it becomes considerably more brutal than its family-adventure exterior might lead you to expect, but revealing those moments would rob them of their impact.

The prehistoric creatures themselves are superb.

There is a tangible quality to them that reminded me of Stan Winston’s extraordinary creations for Jurassic Park. Whether any particular moment was achieved practically, digitally or through a combination of techniques ultimately doesn’t matter. The greatest compliment I can give the visual-effects team is that while watching the film I largely stopped thinking about the fact that I was watching visual effects.

These creatures feel like they’re actually there.

That illusion is helped enormously by a cast that commits completely to the premise.

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway are excellent as Greg and Denise, a couple whose relationship is already strained before prehistoric animals start making their lives considerably more complicated.

Hathaway remains one of those wonderfully dependable performers who never appears to consider material beneath her. Denise isn’t simply relegated to being the worried mother while everybody around her gets to have the fun; she’s capable, determined and becomes an important part of the action.

McGregor is equally committed, grounding Greg’s more physical moments in the reality of an ordinary father trying to protect his family rather than suddenly transforming him into an action hero.

Christian Convery is also very good as Brian. Younger siblings in family adventures can sometimes be reduced to the annoying kid who makes terrible decisions purely because the screenplay needs another problem. Brian thankfully avoids that stereotype. He’s allowed to have weaknesses, but he’s also allowed moments in which he proves exactly why he’s an important member of this family.

For me, though, Maisy Stella is the standout.

I first encountered Stella in the wonderfully outrageous My Old Ass, where she somehow made the ridiculous premise of a young woman meeting the older version of herself, played by Aubrey Plaza, feel completely sincere.

Audrey is a very different character, but Stella demonstrates that same remarkable ability to play an improbable situation completely straight.

She doesn’t wink at the camera.

Nobody does.

That’s incredibly important because The End of Oak Street isn’t embarrassed by what it is. The actors aren’t constantly making jokes to reassure us that they know dinosaurs appearing in suburbia is ridiculous. To these characters, what is happening is real, and because they believe it, we believe it.

There is humour, including one wonderfully timed moment involving Greg, Denise and two prehistoric creatures that I won’t spoil, but the film uses levity as a release from the tension rather than allowing jokes to undermine it.

Even the family dog, Starbuck, is treated as part of the ensemble.

Starbuck is loyal, brave and, most importantly, a very good dog.

That’s all I’m saying about Starbuck.

The film also knows when to leave.

With blockbuster runtimes increasingly creeping towards the point where you start wondering whether you should have packed provisions, The End of Oak Street doesn’t feel unnecessarily elongated. It establishes its characters, introduces its central mystery, explains the rules, escalates the danger and tells its story without overstaying its welcome.

There is a confidence to that simplicity.

What impressed me most is that The End of Oak Street respects its audience.

It doesn’t expect us to understand advanced physics, but neither does it treat us as though we’re incapable of following an idea. It gives us the information we need, asks us to accept one enormous speculative leap and then plays fairly within the universe it has created.

The result is a surprisingly intelligent, enormously entertaining science-fiction adventure that understands exactly why those classic Spielberg films continue to resonate.

It’s about extraordinary things happening to ordinary people.

It’s about a family confronted by something impossible and discovering what they’re capable of when it matters.

And yes, it’s also about dinosaurs.

I went into The End of Oak Street intrigued by its premise but uncertain about exactly what kind of film I was going to get. I came out pleasantly surprised by something that feels simultaneously nostalgic and refreshingly sincere: a film with an idea, the confidence to execute it and enough respect for its audience not to explain that idea to death.

Sometimes that’s all good science fiction needs.