Sundance 2025 Review: “Omaha” – A Heartbreaking Drama!
Road trip films often have a lighthearted and chaotic association with them, showcasing how being in close quarters with family or friends heightens stress and joy. Whether it be a chosen trip to a designated destination or a spur of the moment journey, the road to the target location is often the most memorable for better or for worse. The structure of such films typically allow for tension to amplify along the way with a conclusion that pays off by warming the audience’s hearts.
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Omaha, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, is its own kind of road trip film where its independent production and budget makes it feel like a true family journey rather than a cinematic representation. Directed by Cole Webley, Omaha opens with Ella and Charlie’s father waking them up in the wee hours of the morning to gather up their possessions. As they begin driving to their unknown destination, Webley is able to paint a realistic picture of a working class family on the brink of breaking as he uncovers where the family is headed. Omaha wears its heart on its sleeve and possesses some powerful performances, especially Molly Belle Wright, as it hits familiar emotional beats that leads to a heartbreaking conclusion.
Omaha is not your conventional road trip film. Even in more subtle moments of joy in Ella and Charlies eyes, there is a looming bomb ready to detonate as the journey gets closer and closer to its destination. It becomes clear the immense financial struggle Ella and Charlie’s father is under, his wife having passed years ago, and his car that needs to be pushed down the road in order to start. In the eyes of his children there is an unconditional trust they have for their father, going along with his orders even in the midst of further confusion. Omaha is a film that shares meaningful moments along the way while hiding the darkness that awaits them all.
Long time Festival attendee, Director Cole Webley had his feature film Omaha debut on opening night in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Festival Moments, presented by @Adobe pic.twitter.com/GxQgJOZTNl
— Sundance Film Festival (@sundancefest) February 1, 2025
Even in its disheartening reality of a father doing everything he can to give his kids all he has, Webley displays the beauty of childhood through natural lighting and small moments between Charlie and Ella with with each stop on the road. Stopping its audience to share in Ella and Charlie’s childlike joy between flying a kite and picking out their favorite Lunchables at the store, highlights how children are constantly reaching into their imagination and cheery personalities to make the clearest memories in the most mundane of places. Omaha is able to maintain this balance of only allowing its characters to reach a level of happiness without sacrificing its somber tone.
Because Omaha’s conclusion hits like a ton of bricks,the film might have benefited from prolonged moments of steadiness between its characters rather than a race from scene to scene. Although this constant moment from scene to scene mirrors Ella and Charlie’s father’s desire to get to where they need to be in a timely fashion, it came at the expense of more tender moments that could have aided in the film’s conclusion rather than making the situation at hand the emotional ax. There are times when it is impossible not to be saddened by the reality of the children’s futures or their father’s feelings of having no way out.
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However, allowing the audience to feel the weight as to why these specific characters are to be followed is what captures viewers and draws them to cinematic characters long after the film ends. Omaha is a story worth exploring even if it could have benefited from slowing down to fully commit to its characters.
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