Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: Set against the 2008 recession, “Omaha,” a new drama now playing in theatres, sees a father facing foreclosure on his home. In response he takes his kids Ella and Charlie on a road trip across the American West.

CAST: John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, Wyatt Solis, Talia Balsam, Christina Cooper. Directed by Cole Webley.

REVIEW: An intimate, haunting portrait of desperation, “Omaha’s” quiet road trip is worth the journey to experience the emotional wallop it packs in its final moments.

Director Cole Webley, working from a sparse, poetic script by Robert Machoian, begins the story with a father (John Magaro) waking his young daughter Ella (Molly Belle Wright), instructing her to grab her things and meet her little brother Charlie (Wyatt Solis) and family dog in the car. “Pretend that there is a fire in the house,” he says, “and we have to get out as quick as we could.”

The girl grabs a few things, including a picture of her late mother, and the family is off on a road trip.

“Where are we going, Dad?” Ella asks repeatedly, without ever receiving an answer.

The family’s destination is eventually revealed, but no spoilers here. It’s the key to the story, the payoff for accompanying a father on the most difficult journey of his life. Webley and Machoian carefully calibrate the story, allowing an air of melancholy to envelope the action.

It is slow and meditative with a paucity of plot, but the deliberate pacing allows the audience, like a fly on the wall, to experience the family’s dynamic up close and personal. As the brief runtime (it’s a quick 84 minutes) counts down to the third act reveal, empathy and tenderness build, which adds extra oomph to the film’s climax.

Naturalistic performances from Wright and Solis are by times heartbreaking, by times all too real as they quickly come-of-age. Magaro shows restraint and emotional depth in the face of an unimageable choice. It’s a breakthrough performance; quietly powerful as the character—known only as Dad—puts on a stoic front to mask his desperation.

Like any long road trip, there is some downtime, moments where the story feels pushed, but patient viewers will be rewarded with an emotional intensity that feels authentic and a devastating payoff.