Those who follow the Sundance Film Festival regularly know that it attracts a certain type of indie film with recurring sensibilities. I’d never profess to be a long-standing expert on this phenomenon, but Cole Webley’s Omaha (which premiered at Sundance in 2025 and will soon be in theaters nationwide) plays as an emblematic example of what the festival does best, for better or worse. That is, a portrait of a hard-up family or individual scraping by, probably somewhere in rural or small-town America, as they’re faced with external or existential adversities – with some sad indie guitar music peppered in for flavor. Webley’s film is exactly that, a road trip focused on a family as they move from their foreclosed home to the titular Nebraska city.

There’s a generous read that Omaha follows a kind of avatar for lower-income families across America, but Robert Machoian’s screenplay is either ill-defined or vague throughout most of its short runtime. Even John Magaro’s lead character is simply credited as “Dad” – though this alone isn’t enough as a barometer for quality. A film with an intentionally emotional and unexpected ending deserves specificity, and there isn’t enough to be found in him or their circumstances. As Omaha begins, we see Dad waking his two kids, Ella (Molly Bell Wright) and Charlie (Wyatt Solis), and their golden retriever Rex, in the early morning hours and shuffling them into the car, though we don’t know why. A sheriff appears before they can depart, but Webley purposefully cuts away whenever any details are discussed, though we can surmise that financial difficulties likely played a role.

Omaha invites comparisons to the films of Kelly Reichardt or Sean Baker, filmmakers who’ve made their careers about people on the fringes of society who have been beaten down by the systems designed to keep them down. Similarly, Magaro (a regular collaborator with Reichardt) has made a career of playing sad men with internal struggles, and he plays to his strengths exceptionally here. It’s evident on his face at every gas station or checkout counter, every time he has to mentally calculate and debate what they can afford versus providing the best experience for his kids. We never learn what, if anything, he does for work, or what led to his depression, but we do learn that the wife and mother died, perhaps recently, so it’s likely he’s still grieving from her passing.

The bulk of the film sees the family travel across the interstate to Nebraska, exchanging mindless banter and playing various road trip games like “would you rather”. Paul Meyers’ luscious cinematography captures the open expanses of the American countryside, making Omaha look much more expensive than its likely tiny budget. Most road trip films afford the opportunity to meet colorful characters or escalating situations which test the bonds and character of the family. Machoian’s script mostly sees varying versions of the same scenes, as Magaro wrestles with his rapidly dwindling cash reserves. Again, it’s not hard to see this family as emblematic of a national crisis, especially as the economic gap widens further and further between classes.

The term “poverty porn” tends to get thrown around with films in the same genre as Omaha, where we’re left to witness the struggles of the disenfranchised simply because they have less than us. I wouldn’t go so far as to slap that moniker against Webley’s debut feature, but I’m not sure I can defend it too heartily against those that do. Thankfully Magaro, Wright, and Solis form a tangible bond with enough genuine humanity to not feel exploitative. Webley has the good sense to withhold the emotional devastation until the final moments, to say nothing of the equally depressing closing title cards, but perhaps more attention to detail in the earlier portions of Omaha would have helped the finale land better.

Greenwich Entertainment will release Omaha in select theaters on April 24 and expand in the following weeks.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• None, but Magaro is an indie darling, so it’s possible he could appear as a nominee at the Indie Spirit Awards or the Gothams.