91% Rotten Tomatoes

What starts as a family road trip across the American West ends in quiet devastation. In between, “Omaha” now in theaters, speaks movingly about ties that don’t always bind. John Magara, one of the best actors anywhere, stars as Dad—his name isn’t mentioned—who wakes up his kids early one morning and announces a surprise road trip. Screenwriter Robert Machoian and debuting feature director Cole Webley like withholding things, so get used to it. Extracting details is like pulling teeth. “Pretend there’s a fire,” he tells his nine-year-old daughter Ella (a star-is-born Molly Belle Wright) and her younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Solis), while he hustles them into a rattletrap car—it always needs a push to start—along with golden retriever Rex. The mood is hardly festive—we see an eviction notice on the door as Dad drives away. Charlie looks excited in the back seat with Rex, but Ella—upfront with Dad—gets the feeling something is off. She’s right, about a lot of things.-Travers Take