(L–R) Cole Webley, Molly Belle Wright, John Magaro, Robert Machoian, and Preston Lee attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of “Omaha” at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Lucy Spicer
Audience members are still wiping tears from their eyes as credits finish rolling for the premiere of Omaha, which kicked off the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition on January 23 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah. As emotional as the screening is for viewers, the experience is undeniably emotional for the film’s director, as well. “I grew up in Washington state but I’ve been a Utah native for 20 years, coming to this Festival, and it was worth the wait,” says filmmaker Cole Webley before the premiere of his feature directorial debut. “I’ve tried to be a Sundance [alum] for many years, but this was the right film.”
In addition to Webley’s careful direction, the recipe for the right film requires some key ingredients: 1. A script by Robert Machoian (The Killing of Two Lovers, 2020 Sundance Film Festival) so natural that one audience member likens the film to a documentary, 2. Cinematography by Paul Meyers, who captures both sweeping American landscapes and closeups of a conflicted child with an equal sense of wonder, and 3. Measured, heartbreakingly believable performances by an extraordinary trio of actors.
A loving but solemn John Magaro (Past Lives, 2023 Sundance Film Festival) plays the film’s single father who gathers up his two children for an unexpected early-morning road trip one day in 2008. Molly Belle Wright portrays the perceptive 9-year-old Ella, who is trusted and tasked with helping to wrangle energetic younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Solis) at gas stations and motels along the way. Despite her maturity and keen eye, Ella can tell that her father is keeping something from her. And even kite-flying, ice cream, and other small treats on the road aren’t quite enough to stop her — and the film’s audience — from worrying about how this car ride will end.
A firm hold on reality grounds Omaha from every direction. The child actors were playing characters the same ages as them. “It’s a tough, tall order to cast kids who are their actual ages,” explains Magaro at the film’s post-premiere Q&A. “They really rose to the challenge.” The film’s crew included many parents who were intimately acquainted with the rhythms of children and the unpredictable behaviors that can change the direction of a scene (though sometimes for the better). Magaro notes that even the film’s producer played some decidedly down-to-earth roles on set. “Preston [Lee] was PA all the way to producer. He did it all. And that doesn’t often happen.”
Even the driving was real. “We didn’t do any green screens,” reveals Webley. “When the car was moving, the car was moving.”
And this fictional story also embodies the very real struggle that parents endured in the wake of the Great Recession — and the unfathomable sacrifices that some were forced to consider.
Omaha is a quiet film until it’s not, and its powerful performances will stay with you long after the story ends.
