No assembly RequireD

There can sometimes be a genuine fear that the Sundance Film Festival has lost its independent roots. While the worries may be valid it seems that every year this comes into conversation and every year there is at least a handful of films that remind us of the power of independent cinema. It seems to rely on just wanting to look for the right ones or even just taking a leap of faith and going into something with no prejudgment. OMAHA directed by Cole Webley is the kind of film that proves not just the beauty of indie filmmaking but also the many trials and tribulations. A soft spoken but devastating look at the choices parents make, this is a film that (thankfully) takes a moment to show its full hand but once it does its impossible to look away from even as it breaks you down to an emotional wreck. This is not to say OMAHA is an endurance test of a film but instead a beautiful and empathetic approach to a situation that often doesn’t deserve our sympathy. OMAHA does not necessarily set out to create a film leaving you with endless debate but rather engage with the emotional senses and ideas that no parent ever gets it right but many unfortunately feel forced to get it wrong.

Ella has to leave her home immediately. A young ten year old girl Ella (a tremendous Molly Belle Wright) is awoken one morning by her father (John Magaro) and told to pack up whatever she can’t live without. To her confusion Dad tells her “if the house was one fire what would you take.” She grabs her Nintendo DS, her Twilight books and the picture of her late mother. OMAHA lets us know early on that while the film always remains in third person, the eyes of Ella and her younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Solis) will be our main guide. Magaro’s character is only known to us as Dad as the children call his name out in confusion when he tells them they are going on a road trip. Cole Webley with a script from Robert Machoian hints early on at something frightening but in the eyes of these two kids the trip may seem unexpected and confusing but the trust in their dad is sincere. It also helps that Rex the family dog was not left behind. But beyond the children’s understanding is a far more complex and upsetting situation. Surrounding clues allow us to understand Dad is being evicted from his house and as we learn of its time period the 2008 economic disaster has hit everyone in their surrounding Utah home.

The smartest and most heartbreaking thing OMAHA decides to do is never reveal its full hand until it’s too late. There is a moment (which this critic won’t ruin) about twenty minutes in when you realize the full situation at hand. Webley directs this moment not as a “gotcha” moment but rather a natural progression and still it as a viewer you are conflicted. For the film’s sake you hope the film is taking a path that other filmmakers would shy away from and yet for your own heart you hope things will change quickly and everyone will start singing and dancing and the world will be a better place. However as the intentions of both the film and the road trip start to become clearer there is a sense of wanting to hold onto every second you have with Ella and Charlie. Magaro has solidified himself as one of the best of his generation. An often soft spoken performer until he is not where he can reach a level of rage and self-pain that others often play to the extreme. Dad loves his children and does his best on the road trip shoveling out any loose change he can find just to buy them a kite or a Lunchables. But when he is alone he cries and talks to his late wife asking how he is ever supposed to do all this without her. While these moments are shown they are often muted or mumbled as we see them the way Ella sees it. To her it is merely that her father is tired. But never doubt the observations of a child. Ella knows there is more to the story and this road trip entirely. Molly Belle Wright is also a casting decision that in itself deserves all the praise. Wright playing her actual age brings such a delicate accuracy to the wonder like world of a child while also observing the pain around them. Watching her bounce off her brother and more importantly scene partner becomes almost documentary like as they play nice one moment and taunt the other the next. A big highlight of attending the Sundance Premiere was getting to hear from both the child performers and director that many of the playful moments of Ella and Charlie were in fact just improvised moments between two adventurous kids.

Even with its low budgeted roots OMAHA feels large at scale with both its themes and technical achievements. Shot throughout Utah (not as common as you’d expect for Sundance movies) cinematographer Paul Myers shoots this with the intimacy of a small packed car while also recognizing the large scale world outside. This film is loud and appropriately so. The kids love to blast music in the car with their father and scream silly bathroom humor jokes. Seriously the film may take the lead in most poop told jokes per minute. But there is also a loud and often destructive world outside. The tractor trailers passing by do so with such furiousness while also embodying the working world that while struggled in 08’ still existed surrounding those who barely had ten dollars to their name. It is a great demonstration of how Dad may appear to have things together at times the world around him continues to close in louder and louder. All this finds its way to a final act that while shocking once again never feels like an attempt to catch you off guard. If you’ve been paying attention then it may feel like there was only one road this was heading down. But that doesn’t mean you feel validated as an audience member once it reaches these moments. No instead OMAHA wants you to understand the reality of the situation as well as recognize the pain being poured out from each individual. OMAHA is as American as it gets in both its tenderness as well as its destructiveness. Some self-made and many forced upon, but nonetheless it is a story of a father that even through the worst decisions inflicted on his kids, to them he will always be Dad.

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OMAHA PREMIERED AT THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL IN THE U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION CATEGORY. IT IS CURRENTLY SEEKING DISTRIBUTION