Very mild spoilers for The End of Oak Street, which is rated PG-13
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor are promoting The End of Oak Street, which is about a 1980s suburban neighborhood that teleports back in time to the dinosaur era. The movie centers around a family of four and their dog, Starbuck.
After the trailer dropped, there was chatter from people who were hesitant to see it without knowing what happens to the dog. Mr. Rosie and I saw The End of Oak Street over the weekend and spent the entire movie whispering back and forth about Starbuck’s fate. In an interview with Complex, Hathaway addressed public concerns about that. She was so sympathetic that she proposed any movie that kills a dog should automatically get an R rating. From Variety:
Anne Hathaway told Complex during her press tour for “The End of Oak Street” that movies should be rated R if they feature dogs being killed. Moviegoers have wondered if “Oak Street” would feature dog violence ever since the film’s trailer revealed Starbuck, the trusted canine of the film’s central family (Hathaway plays matriarch Denise).
“I feel like movies that kill dogs should automatically be rated R,” Hathaway said. “Doesn’t matter if anybody curses, doesn’t matter if there’s violence, if a dog dies, R-rated… I think everybody’s so traumatized by ‘John Wick,’ because I’ve been seeing those [comments for our movie] like, ‘They better not kill the dog.’ I’m like, ‘Which movies are out there killing dogs that everybody’s scared that we’re just casually doing it in movies now?’”
“Somebody was like, can you just let the audiences know that, like, it’s all gonna be OK?’” Hathaway added about Starbuck’s fate in her new movie. “We break rules in this movie, that might not be one of them. Don’t worry.”
Hathaway headlines “End of Oak Street” alongside Ewan McGregor. The duo star as parents who must protect their family from dinosaurs when their suburban street travels back in time millions of years. “It Follows” and “Under the Silver Lake” director David Robert Mitchell helmed the Warner Bros. tentpole, with J.J. Abrams on board as producer.
Anne is onto something here. I’m a cat person, but I had a dog growing up and get so emotional when one dies in a movie. It’s why I held off on watching the first John Wick for so long. I heard about *that* scene and refused to watch it until I saw John Wick: Chapter 2 first. It doesn’t even have to be a violent death. I cried for days after seeing Marley & Me. At the very least, there should be a trigger warning. If you dread watching a movie where a dog could potentially meet its end, there’s a website that uses its spoiler power for good called doesthedogdie.com.
I really enjoyed The End of Oak Street. It’s a fun summer blockbuster under two hours. It is graphic, though. People get eaten by dinosaurs on screen. While Starbuck makes it to the end, there is one brief moment where you see a cat being eaten from far away. I’d really like to talk about the ending because I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around the timeline. I’ll avoid more details so as not to reveal spoilers.
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- BURBANK, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – AUGUST 09: Anne Hathaway wearing custom Atelier Prabal Gurung, styled by Erin Walsh arrives at the World Premiere Of Warner Bros.’ ‘The End Of Oak Street’ held at Warner Bros. Studios on August 9, 2026 in Burbank, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1122017767, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Pictured: Anne Hathaway , Credit line: Image Press Agency/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- BURBANK, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – AUGUST 09: Anne Hathaway wearing custom Atelier Prabal Gurung, styled by Erin Walsh arrives at the World Premiere Of Warner Bros.’ ‘The End Of Oak Street’ held at Warner Bros. Studios on August 9, 2026 in Burbank, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1122017790, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Pictured: Anne Hathaway , Credit line: Image Press Agency/Image Press Agency/Avalon
Photos credit: Avalon.red, PGP/Backgrid, Dario Alequin/Backgrid, Roger Wong/INSTARimages, Getty
An “R” rating says nothing about dogs. It should be a separate rating, like “DD” or like those fan fic warnings “Dead dove: do not eat.”
How about this? Just don’t make movies in which dogs, cats or other animals suffer cruelty and/or are killed.
Seriously, I (and most everyone I know) look up movies on Doesthedogdie.com before paying to watch in the theater or streaming them. If there are any dog or cat deaths (or animal cruelty in general) we just refuse to watch that movie. Period.
There’s enough trauma and violence in the world already without gratuitously adding animal cruelty (and deaths) to movies; especially considering many of us watch movies to escape reality for a little while.
My mom and I took my (then) 11-yr old daughter to see My Dog Skip in the theaters when it was released in 2000. We all loved Malcolm in the Middle, and Frankie Munoz was in My Dog Skip. Since the trailer made it look like a “heartwarming” family movie, we were excited to see it.
Too bad we didn’t have the internet back then because HOLY SH-T. To this day, my daughter (now 37) is traumatized just thinking about that movie… so am I (and I’m A LOT older than 37 😉)! When Marley and Me was released in 2008, I noped out before even reading a synopsis. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me (or “we won’t be fooled again”).
Add cats to that R Rating, because a couple of cats were killed and eaten in End of Oak Street.