The Dog Doesn't Die In The End Of Oak Street, But It's Not Entirely Pet Friendly

Warner Bros' The End of Oak Street is a new sci-fi survival thriller movie from writer-director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) and producer J.J. Abrams (Cloverfield). It tells the story of the Platt family, who live in a normal suburban neighborhood in the 80s, and wake up one day to find dinosaurs roaming the streets and eating their neighbors.

Like any nuclear family, the Platt's have a dog. Theirs is an Australian cattle dog named Starbuck, presumably after the character from Battlestar Galactica, who's beloved especially by the youngest Platt child, Brian (Christian Convery). Early on in The End of Oak Street movie, Starbuck causes conflict between the family and their neighbor, Mel (P.J. Byrne), but it's clear that Denise (Anne Hathaway), Greg (Ewan McGregor) and Audrey (Maisy Stella) all love the dog.

However, once dinosaurs show up in their neighborhood, Starbuck disappears, and it becomes clear that surviving the prehistoric animals will be a difficult feat for the humans of Oak Street, let alone their pets. On more than one occasion, members of the Platt family either try to reassure Brian that Starbuck is fine or, as the situation becomes more dire, try to gently break it to him that his beloved pooch might not make it.

As for viewers, it can be stressful to spend a full movie wondering whether the dog is going to die, and a website called Does the Dog Die? has even popped up to help warn audiences ahead of film and TV shows where it's a serious possibility. In the case of The End of Oak Street, we can happily report that Starbuck survives to the end of the movie — but that doesn't mean all the pets on Oak Street do.

Don't Worry, The Dog Doesn't Die In The End Of Oak Street

Although Starbuck is missing for a good portion of The End of Oak Street's dinosaur mayhem, it's not because he was eaten off-screen. He returns to the family in rather spectacular fashion in the third act of the film, and survives until the end. To avoid spoiling the movie, we'll leave it at that, but you can rest assured Starbuck lives.

It makes sense that Starbuck, as an Australian cattle dog, could survive the events of The End of Oak Street and return to Brian, since the breed is known for being very intelligent and very loyal. Another type of dog may not have fared as well, and, in fact, other pets from the neighborhood do meet their end in the jaws of the dinosaurs rampaging down Oak Street.

The End Of Oak Street Shows Other Animals Dying (Including Pets)

Although The End of Oak Street is rated PG-13, there's a great deal of blood and gore in the film, albeit much of it rendered through CGI violence. Still, one of the more disturbing scenes is of a few dinosaurs picking over the dead remains of a pet cat on the porch of one of the houses. It's not clear, but this may be a cat seen earlier in the film, who escapes a house that was being attacked by a dinosaur.

There is also dinosaur-on-dinosaur violence throughout The End of Oak Street, with bigger predators attacking smaller herbivore species. Still, the majority of violence is dinosaurs attacking humans, with some incredibly vicious scenes of characters being ripped apart or eaten. It's a gruesome survival horror and The End of Oak Street doesn't shy away from that viciousness, with humans and animals bearing the brunt of the dinosaurs' attacks.

So, if your only concern is the dog, rest assured that Starbuck survives The End of Oak Street, but cats, many humans and other animals aren't so lucky.