After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighbourhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognisable surroundings.
Thoughts From The Filmmakers
Writer / Director / Producer David Robert Mitchell
On the genesis of the project…
I’d always wanted to make a dinosaur movie, since I was kid. My dad was obsessed with dinosaurs, he had always dreamed of being a paleontologist and was always reading dinosaur books. So, I grew up around it. We also watched a lot of Ray Harryhausen films as a kid, all the stop-motion animation, like Valley of Gwangi—cowboys discovering an Allosaurus. So, I fell in love with the idea of doing it, but I didn’t know what would be my version of a dinosaur film. Then a few years ago I was walking through my neighborhood, just a casual stroll, and I was passing by this really interesting house and this alleyway. And I just imagined that there was a dinosaur there digging through the trash. I just could see it, and I stopped and I looked at this interesting tableau of this fantastical thing in this mundane place in a middle-class neighborhood. And I thought, I want to write something that feels like this. I want to make a movie that feels like this image in my mind.
On setting the story in the early 1980s…
I was a kid in the `80s and I was just thinking back to that time that was important to me. And I think in that time period, in the `70s and `80s, you had really strong character-based films that you connected with and cared about. So then to take that and put them into very dangerous and interesting situations and have them find ways to navigate that, because you genuinely care it makes the spectacle more meaningful. Not to say that there aren’t modern films that do this. There are. But I do think it was probably a high point, that time period.
On the family set up in the film…
All the Platt family members have their own issues, their own struggles, their own little secrets they are unable to share with each other. But when these people find themselves in a dangerous situation, with mortal stakes, it forces them to connect… or not. So we’re telling a story where you are immersed and you really care about these people—having actors as amazing Anne, Ewan, Maisy and Christian, who did such a great job, there’s a genuine connection between them that carries through the movie. We experience that danger with them in a real, sincere way, so that when strange things start to happen, it feels like it’s happening to you. It was important to me that the movie have all of that, all of the spectacle, the suspense, the action, and the personal stakes, all the things that you want from a popcorn movie.
On capturing your vision for the film…
Mike Gioulakis was our DP, and we had decided to shoot this in a style that was closer to the ways in which these kinds of movies were made in the late `70s, early `80s. So, it was about not having too much coverage, letting things play out in shots, pacing down the editorial. We wanted a bit of brightness and joy in the lighting and the compositions, especially for certain parts of the movie, and we wanted there to be a certain amount of naturalism. There are moments which are a little bit closer to more elaborate camera work, but I’m hoping they don’t feel that way and when you watch it that it might feel simple, even if it was not. For example, the Allosaurus chase involved a lot of scouting and planning and rehearsals, and camera rehearsals, to figure out how to pull that off. So, a lot of deep planning. And then in other places, because Mike and I have worked together a lot, it was also us taking the plan and having fun on the day and finding interesting ways to see the world and to see the neighborhood.
On bringing dinosaurs into the mix…
The dinosaurs in the movie of course started at the script stage. It was very much about what would be interesting in these particular moments, how can I build these set pieces with a combination of joy, humor, terror and suspense, and the suggestion that these animals are just living in this environment. A certain amount of that was already decided, but then once we were in our planning stage and putting the film together, there was a lot of design work and concept art that helped us narrow it down. It was really fun, because we got to play with that combination of science and creativity.
On collaborating with ILM…
Working with our visual effects supervisor Jay Cooper and with ILM was amazing. We all know how incredible they are and the level of their work, so when we determined that they were going to be designing and creating the dinosaurs for us I was thrilled. Because again, when I wrote the movie I knew that we needed an amazing cast for this to feel real, we needed to film in a real environment, in a real neighborhood, to ground it in naturalism, but we also needed incredible effects. They brought all of their knowledge and creativity to the back and forth about what we wanted these animals to look like, what’s interesting for this movie, are there any unique elements that we can add? That was the process: to create life and to make sure that these were living animals and they’re not just these things that exist for the sake of these moments in the film. That there’s real texture and life there.
David Robert Mitchell’s (Writer/Director/Producer) writing and directorial feature debut, The Myth of the American Sleepover, premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival, winning a special Jury Prize. The film had its international premiere at the CannesFilm Festival in the Critics’ Week section. Other awards include the Prix duJury at the Deauville American Film Festival and the American Indie Newcomer prize at the Munich Film Festival. The Myth of the American Sleepover was released theatrically by IFC Films in 2011; it was listed as one of thetop 5 films of the year on “Ebert Presents at the Movies.” David’s sophomore feature, It Follows, premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics’ Week section. The film was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards and had a successful theatrical release through Radius TWC in 2015. He is currently in development with the sequel entitled They Follow for Neon. His most recent film release was Under the Silver Lake starring Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, and Topher Grace. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d’Or, before being released theatrically by A24. David is currently in production on They Follow for Neon. He is the writer and director of the film with Maika Monroe returning to star in the sequel.
Producer J.J. Abrams
On the genesis of this film, and what appealed to you as a producer…
This was David’s original idea. Bad Robot received the script, and I jumped at the chance to work on such a wonderful Twilight Zone concept with a writer/director I was already a huge fan of.
On what made David Robert Mitchell’s script a great project for Bad Robot…
The wild “what if” premise felt like a perfect fit. Flawed characters in the right, out of this world situation is a wonderful combination.
On David Robert Mitchell’s directing vision for the film and, as a producer, how you helped him realize it…
David always was clear on his vision. He saw this as a grounded, dramatic film that sort of goes insane. But the cinematic style was always his. Super intentional camera work, zooms and split diopters, an almost independent film style mutated with a big studio film. The aesthetic was always a thrilling proposition.
On what makes The End of Oak Street the perfect summer popcorn event film…
The End of Oak Street is a total thrill ride. I’ve seen it with audiences. They scream and laugh and cry and cheer. It’s the sort of film that reminds you why you go to the movies.
On what audiences will be talking about when they leave the theater after seeing this film… There are quite a few amazing sequences. One in particular that I think could be a classic terror scene. But I think the big takeaway is the thrill of seeing dinosaurs in a suburban setting. The contrast of these wild creatures in an absolutely mundane neighborhood is spectacular. The insane story becomes far more relatable than you might expect.
