Omaha
(2024 | USA | Cole Webley | 85 minutes)

John Magaro is predictably excellent anchoring the slight yet perceptive Omaha as a single dad with dwindling resources who packs up his young kids and very good boy golden retriever into an unreliable Subaru. Facing impending eviction from their modest home, they grab their most essential items and shove the car into a hill start. As they head east across the vast open spaces on the American highway, he does his best to find small happy memories for his oblivious son and wise-beyond-her-years daughter (touching debuts from Wyatt Solis and Molly Belle Wright, both) amid growing uncertainty about their future.

The scenery of the open road is a gorgeous counterpoint to the lingering sadness that the devoted father tries to hold at bay while driving across the country. Seeking to provide his young daughters with enduring memories, they find moments of scenic frivolity flying kites below the endless blue skies of the salt flats, enjoying the eternal joys of a hotel pool on a hot summer evening, and spending the last dollars in your wallet for a day at the zoo. They’re beautiful moments, albeit suffused with creeping dread. Ripped gently from an underseen headline, it’s a moving look at impossible choices and life’s hardest turns.

Omaha played as an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It has additional screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City throughout the festival and is also available online for the public (January 30–February 2)