By Dan Skip Allen

The Sundance Film Festival is one that has launched careers and built up reputations of those who are building from something such as writing a script or making a short film. That’s the case with the filmmaker and writer of “Omaha” Robert Machoian has already made a couple of full-length films in his career. “The Killing of Two Lovers” and “The Integrity of Joseph Chambers” plus a short “The Long Valley” all in this decade, but it’s his latest script that has caught the eyes of many filmgoers at the festival in 2025, “Omaha”. He wrote this touching story about a father, his two children, and their dog on a road trip out west. There was a reason it raised a lot of eyebrows.

A father (John Magaro) suddenly wakes his children up in the middle of the night. They pack up their things, what they can load into the family car, a 1991 Toyota Corolla Wagon, and the dog Rex and head out west to Omaha, Nebraska. This quiet man keeps the reason for going west to himself for most of the film, but as the story progresses the kids Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and Charlie (Wyatt Solis) start to piece together why they’re on this journey. The father takes them to saltflats to fly kites, zoos, and abandoned pools to keep them occupied, but the inevitable decision that weighs his own mind is looming over his head like a 1,000-pound weight. This is what makes this story and film so impactful.

As someone who has lived through the housing crisis of the late 2000s, I can attest that it wasn’t a fun time to be an American citizen. Some of the decisions of Bill Clinton in the 90s, albeit under the best intentions, have come back to bite us as a country in the 2000s. The 2015 film from director Adam McCay “The Big Short” went into great detail about that. Another movie that dealt with this crisis was “99 Homes” starring Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield. That one specifically hit me hard because it was about Central Florida, where I currently reside. This crisis is kept under wraps for most of the film, but it’s understood that the family had to leave their home for a specific reason. It wasn’t a good time for many Americans, including myself. 

I was born into a family that didn’t have a very good lifestyle. I had two brothers and a sister, and my mother took care of us with just a fourth grade education.  My father was an alcoholic and abused my mother and us as children. This was back in the 70s and early 80s, though. You could get away with a lot back then regarding begging and getting help. This day and age or in the 2000s, for that matter, is a harder time to get help because government agencies need proof that you’re out of work and can’t work or you’re unable to provide for your family. The man in this movie gets some assistance, but it seems by the way he is bringing his family out west that he may have given up all hope for being a good father and provider for his two beautiful spunky children.

As a man who doesn’t have any kids, I can’t specifically say how hard it is to raise them, but based on my childhood, I can grasp how hard it may be. Also, I have many friends and acquaintances who have children of all ages, and this is not a good time to bring up kids in America or in the world. Technology plays a big part in that. Kids are more aware of things they shouldn’t be than ever before. When I was a kid, I was oblivious to most of the problems my family faced because I buried myself in watching television or reading books/comics. As I grew older, I started to realize what my family went through when I was a kid. Today, you couldn’t pay me enough to have children in this society.  I hate to say it, but it’s a dead end. I’m happy for my brother and friends and their kids, but that’s all I can say as an uncle of 8 nieces and nephews.

John Magaro is an actor who has made a big name for himself in recent years with roles in “First Cow” “Showing Up” “Past Lives” and “September 5”. This film is another one that shows that Magaro is great at choosing roles that have something to say about history or something important in society. He even did great work in “Masters of The Air,” the AppleTv Plus Series about the Air Force during WWII. Even recently, in “The Bride“ he comes across as a down-to-earth character actor. He portrays many of these roles as if he’s the average guy on the street. This is a very relatable way of working from my perspective. I can see why he keeps getting work in Hollywood and abroad. Regarding his performance in this film, he is giving a heartbreaking performance. I felt so bad for what he was going through. Magaro expressed that perfectly on screen. He is one of my favorite actors to watch in films these days. I look forward to seeing him.

Seeing as this movie is a road trip film, it has a lot of scenes in the car riding across the country from the East coast to the west coast. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous in this little indie film. Paul Myers captures the beauty of the hills and valleys of the country going to Nebraska. On the way, the backdrop of middle America is shot to perfection. Even on a little budget, this filmmaker, Steven Cole Webley, makes the film look like it’s made with the most expensive cameras and a big budget. I wish more filmmakers would learn from the lesson Webley has taught with this film. You can make a great looking film on a small budget. 

“Omaha” took Sundance by storm a little over a year ago, and I understand why. It’s a little movie that has a big story, big performances, and a big look to it. Everything about this film except the budget is big. The ideas and everything else about it are beyond that of a first-time feature filmmaker. He’s learned a lot about directing from making short films and being an editor on other feature-length movies. With a solid script from Machoian, you can see why this film was such a hit at Sundance last year. Magaro gives a fantastic performance, and so do the children. The movie as a whole was worth the wait for me, who could relate to a lot of it. I want to see more films like this from this duo. They have a great view of society. 

4 stars