OMAHA
Starring: John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, Wyatt Solis, and Talia Balsam
Director: Cole Webley
KATIE
Omaha is a simple, understated, yet deeply affecting film, driven by the authentic-feeling relationship between a father and his two children. The film withholds the specificities of the family’s difficult situation, but throughout the road trip manages to quickly establish the relationship dynamics with scenes of naturalistic interactions that both reveal their heartbreaking reality and show the joy to be found in the quiet moments. John Magaro is fantastic as the father strained with stress and the weight of responsibility, and Molly Belle Wright gives a striking performance as his daughter, Ella.
AMARÚ
From the soulful music to the ambient car sounds and the fly-on-the-wall camera angles, everything about Omaha is heartbreaking. There’s a looming weight that John Magaro’s “Dad” holds in his face which makes the little beautiful moments on his family’s trip all the more heart-wrenching. The film isn’t complicated, primarily revealing the ultimate destination through the unknowing, but suspecting, perspective of his daughter Ella, played by standout Molly Belle Wright. With its simple, child-like viewpoint on such an impossible decision, Omaha stamps the humanity behind a breathtaking, precious, and sorrowful story.
