Written by Spoiler Alert !!!Major spoilers ahead for The End of Oak Street. This article discusses the movie’s ending, including Greg’s fate, Denise’s plan to save her family, and the final time-travel twist.
The End of Oak Street does provide Denise (Anne Hathaway) a way to save her family from dinosaurs, but there’s a catch. She escapes with her (surviving) family back to 1982, “reunites” with Greg (Ewan McGregor), and manages to get the entire neighborhood evacuated. So, she did save her family. Or, did she? She clearly did not save the same Greg she married and had a life with. For that Greg was swallowed by the Allosaurus.
The Greg she reunites with (now you know the reason for the quotes above) is the version of her husband who existed before the events of the David Robert Mitchell-directed movie, before Oak Street was hurled back in time. He never experienced the dinosaur attack and never watched his family fight for survival. More importantly, he did not sacrifice himself to save his family. So, if we are speaking literally, Denise is indeed back with her husband. But it’s not her husband, if you get my drift. So, the movie’s seemingly happy ending is tinged with a little bittersweet irony.
How Does Denise’s Family Survive in The End of Oak Street?
After Greg dies, Denise, their son Brian (Christian Convery), daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella), and the dog Starbuck find their way back to 1982 through the portals that were appearing around Oak Street. By then, they had already figured out that these wormholes connect their world to another point in time. They take their chance and jump through one. The gamble works, for they return to their own time, and it is indeed the same day the street was mysteriously (it is never explained what happened) transported into the prehistoric past.
Denise realizes she can still save the people from the neighborhood, including her husband, if she manages to get Oak Street evacuated. And she does exactly that. Jeanette (Jordan Alexa Davis) goes off to warn her parents, while Denise uses a payphone to warn the people. The deaths are prevented, and even though the street does go back in time and dinosaurs roam, there are no casualties. The US military systematically kills them.
Remembering that Greg secretly took a job delivering pizzas after losing his corporate position, Denise places a delivery order to pull him away from the neighborhood before the rift appears. But when they reunite, the tragedy sets in: this is the Greg from before the crisis. She remembers everything they endured; he remembers nothing.
That is why Denise’s reunion with him feels so strange. She remembers everything that happened to them. He does not.
What Does The End of Oak Street‘s Ending Mean?
Greg (Ewan McGregor) and Denise (Anne Hathaway) in The End of Oak Street | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
The movie’s ending makes it clear that Denise’s plan worked. The people were saved, and the dinosaurs were dealt with. Two years later, Denise has written a book on her and her family’s experiences. And yes, it’s titled The End of Oak Street. We find the Platts living a normal life. But the ending of the movie leaves Denise with a curious problem that we have already addressed above.
There is a more interesting time-travel question. It comes from Jeanette. As mentioned above, Jeanette, who survives the prehistoric ordeal, returns to 1982 and warns her parents. And they survive. So far, so good. But there was already a Jeanette living in 1982 when she returned. And indeed, we get two Jeanettes in the final gathering.
We do not get any explanation, but it is clear what happened. Different movies, shows, and books handle time-travel differently. For instance, in Back to the Future (which turned 40 last year), if one goes back in time and changes something, the future also changes. There is no new timeline created as a result. That’s not the case with the MCU, though.
Thanks to the presence of a second Jeanette, The End of Oak Street clearly follows a branching multiverse model, and not many other time-travel movies. People who travel through the wormholes don’t overwrite their counterparts.
Also, the phenomenon itself remains unexplained. While the movie leaves the precise cosmic origin of the wormholes unexplained, the emotional aftermath is unmistakable. The world was saved, but the time-travel wrinkle remains. Perhaps a sequel might fill in the blanks? The movie has pleased critics (84% on Tomatometer, as of August 14), so we are hopeful.
What did you make of the ending of The End of Oak Street? Did Denise truly get her happy ending, or does the fate of Greg make it more complicated? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The End of Oak Street is currently running in theaters.
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