Is there any actress in Hollywood working as tirelessly and prolifically as Anne Hathaway right now? Her recent career moves are a continuous series of surprises. This year alone, she showed off her enduring star power by appearing in the highly anticipated The Devil Wears Prada 2, and she also revealed a heavy presence in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster Odyssey. Even before Odyssey has left theaters, she has returned to audiences with a new film featuring a completely different genre and atmosphere. Her tireless passion, constantly appearing on screen while perfectly melting into new characters every time, is enough to evoke sheer admiration.
The new film that targeted the late summer season, releasing simultaneously in Korean and American theaters in August, is The Last Days of Oak Street. Anne Hathaway's phenomenal workload does not end here. This autumn alone, two more of her new movies are waiting to be released, and there are even projects currently in the middle of filming aiming for a release next year. What is even more incredible and awe-inspiring amidst this impossibly tight schedule is the fact that she is currently pregnant, expecting her third child. Seeing her burn with a fighting spirit for her work even in a situation where she must be reaching her physical limits is, in itself, like watching a movie.
The Last Days of Oak Street, which has now been released, was actually a so-called "warehouse movie"—a film that hadn't seen the light of day despite a considerable amount of time having passed since filming wrapped. Within the Hollywood system, as well as in Korea, there are often works whose releases are indefinitely postponed due to various distribution issues or internal circumstances. However, it is by no means common for a sci-fi genre film—where visual CGI is its very lifeblood—to sit in a warehouse for a long time before being released. Because the speed of technological advancement is so rapid, missing the release window carries the fatal risk that the visual quality could quickly look outdated and cheesy. Nevertheless, the fact that it finally hit theaters is proof of the distinct charm and confidence the work possesses.
This work was able to meet audiences, braving the risks of a sci-fi warehouse film, because it is a blockbuster backed by a stellar production crew and massive capital. Due to the bizarre premise of giant dinosaurs appearing in an ordinary modern town, the film carries the sentiment of a common B-movie monster flick, but the actual production scale boasts a blockbuster level. J.J. Abrams, the king of Easter eggs and a box-office guarantee, participated as a producer to elevate the project's planning, while David Robert Mitchell—who showcased a unique mise-en-scène in It Follows and Under the Silver Lake—took the megaphone. Compared to the director's previous indie-leaning works, this movie marks a very special turning point in that it is a large-scale commercial film with a production budget that jumped more than tenfold.
For audiences who visit the theater without prior information, this work delivers a fresh shock in terms of its casting. You might casually enter the theater after merely glancing at a popcorn-flick trailer about giant dinosaurs crossing into the modern era and wreaking havoc on a city, only to be startled the moment Anne Hathaway's face appears on screen. Not stopping there, the fact that the male lead playing her husband is none other than renowned Hollywood actor Ewan McGregor makes you realize that, contrary to its premise, this film is a well-made project boasting a truly star-studded cast. This unbalanced combination of A-list top stars earnestly tackling B-movie sensibilities acts as a powerful weapon that sharply elevates the audience's immersion from the very beginning of the film.
The appearance of Ewan McGregor as the male lead, in particular, evokes feelings that are both highly welcoming and unfamiliar. Although he has taken on charismatic heroes and intense leading roles in countless masterpieces in the past, it is true that it has been quite difficult to find his new works on screen in recent years. Returning to the silver screen after a very long time, he plays a highly lethargic and exceedingly ordinary middle-class father character—the exact opposite of the glamorous image etched in our minds. His fragile appearance, wavering in the face of a family crisis, contrasts with his past heroic trajectories, giving off a somewhat awkward feeling, but he soon perfectly persuades the audience of the character's realism with his veteran acting skills.
As the title suggests, the movie opens with the story of the Platt family residing in a very ordinary and quiet residential neighborhood called "Oak Street." The wife, Dennis Platt, played by Anne Hathaway, and the husband, Greg Platt, played by Ewan McGregor, outwardly seem like a harmonious middle-class couple with a lovely son and daughter. However, shortly after the movie begins, the two exchange pointed conversations beyond a tightly closed bedroom door, hiding their true feelings from each other and revealing cracks in their relationship. This precarious cold front between the parents and the ominous nuance suggesting an impending divorce due to a lack of mutual trust are fully transmitted to the children, creating anxiety within the household and acting as psychological foreshadowing for the external disaster that is about to strike.
One night, as internal family conflicts escalate, the eldest daughter, who has a dreamer's temperament, somewhat abruptly mentions the "cosmos" and shares her thoughts on the vast universe and the mysteries of time. And as if this mysterious monologue from the daughter served as a flare, massive, unidentifiable lights flash in the sky above the town every night, and bizarre supernatural phenomena begin to be witnessed. With inexplicable power outages and water cutoffs overlapping, the town's everyday systems are completely paralyzed, and people get an eerie feeling that the air in the world has subtly changed. The scenery of every house and street remains exactly the same as yesterday, but an unexpected, surreal terror strikes as giant prehistoric dinosaurs suddenly pop out and dominate the town.
The point where this movie distinctly differentiates itself from typical monster blockbusters lies in its thoroughly isolated spatial setting. The appearance of the dinosaurs is not a global disaster but a localized phenomenon occurring only within the confined town specified in the title, "Oak Street." Dispensing with kind explanations as to exactly why Cretaceous dinosaurs have appeared in a modern residential area, the movie focuses solely on the harsh survival game of staying alive against the predators right in front of them. The townspeople struggle to escape to the outside in cars to avoid the horrifying monsters, but they are placed in a desperate situation—like rats in a trap—as massive uncrossable waterways or invisible barriers are set up at the town's borders.
Despite the massive infusion of Hollywood capital, the movie does not show off large-scale heroic action sequences mobilizing cutting-edge weapons. It thoroughly focuses on the survival process of an extremely ordinary family coming together, washing away past resentments in the face of mortal terror, and navigating the crisis as one. Scenes such as trying to knock down a giant dinosaur's head with a neighborhood baseball bat do elicit a few chuckles for being somewhat clumsy and lacking realism. However, Anne Hathaway's strong, desperate struggle—firmly gripping a gun and ruthlessly pulling the trigger at the dinosaurs to protect her children—grants an overwhelming sense of trust and energy that carries the movie to the end, along with a strange sense of catharsis.
After breathless, relentless struggles with the dinosaurs, the end of the movie reveals a shocking event and truth that completely catches the audience off guard. This massive twist, which might seem like an overreach at first glance, surprisingly intertwines brilliantly with the fundamental relationship issues Greg and Dennis were harboring, resolving the narrative very smoothly and deeply on an emotional level in the conclusion. Even within the genre limitations of a B-movie creature feature that could easily feel absurd, Anne Hathaway delivers her best performance, pouring out all her energy and vividly bringing the character's emotional lines to life. Although its box office performance might be somewhat disappointing among the general public who expected the explosive thrill of a typical blockbuster, thanks to the fresh genre catharsis and the actors' passionate performances, it will be remembered as a charming film that receives sufficiently good evaluations from critics and hardcore fans alike.
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