About Omaha
| Title: | Omaha |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Omaha |
| Plot: | After a family tragedy, siblings Ella and Charlie are unexpectedly woken up by their dad and taken on a journey across the country, experiencing a world they’ve never seen before. As their adventure unfolds, Ella begins to understand that things might not be what they seem. |
| Cast: | John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, Wyatt Solis, Talia Balsam, Emma Keifer, Teo Santos |
| Director: | Cole Webley |
| Cinematography: | Paul Meyers |
| Editor: | Jai Shukla |
Omaha
Tatsam Mukherjee
The Wire
Condenses the Desperation of an America on the Margins
Premiering at Sundance, 2025, this is a road movie with a difference, of a small family running towards an unforeseen future.
“Where are we going?” six-year-old Charlie (Wyatt Solis) asks his father (John Magaro). Charlie, his elder sister Ella (Molly Belle Wright) are seated inside a car with their father within the first five minutes of the film. The kids have no idea where they’re headed. Cole Webley’s directorial debut is the kind of film where exposition comes at a premium. Information trickles down through stray scenes – the sheriff putting an eviction notice on their house right around the time they’re leaving tells us about the family’s dire financial situation. Ella tells Charlie she was taught to fly a kite by their mother before “she got sick” – explaining who the father talks to, grieving his partner, almost praying to her for forgiveness. When they’re at a store, and the father wishes to spoil his kids with a kite and a meal of their choice, the clerk informs him he has only $20 left on his food stamps.