A young girl discovers the truth about her family’s seemingly spontaneous road trip in this poignant drama starring John Magaro (Past Lives).

Want to get emotionally wrecked? Have I got the movie for you! Omaha is a moody, heavy drama about a family road trip from small-town Nevada to the titular city (that is coincidentally my hometown).

John Magaro (Past Lives, The Big Short) is the down-on-his-luck dad, rushing his young daughter (Molly Belle Wright as Ella), son (Wyatt Solis as Charlie), and dog into the family car for the aforementioned road trip. They are leaving a marked-for-eviction house. Ella helps her dad roll the car to start it. The mom is gone, passing references to a sickness suggesting something tragic. They are dealing with a lot.

And yet, Dad does a good job of shielding his kids from it. They seem happy. They get ice cream. They fly kites. But Ella, the elder, with her big, soulful eyes is starting to see through the façade. The reason for the road trip, even the destination, isn’t spelled out for the kids, but the uneasiness is palpable. You know you’re not in for a happy ending, even when dad scrapes together enough to stop at the great zoo in Omaha (true story, the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha is one of the best globally).

Thankfully, the movie isn’t overly long, or the repetition of the breezy, dialogue-free scenes might grow tiresome. Magaro gives such emotional weight to his character without every getting the opportunity for a truly showy moment (which is a good thing). My two complaints is that when you finally understand the context of the film it’s over without a deeper exploration, and that the zoo doesn’t register as amazing as it is. That aside, if you know you’re in for a gut punch of a film and want to see deeply soul-felt, grounded performances (Wright is also wonderful), then give it a shot.

Jonathan’s grade – B