• 8714 Mon, 18 Aug 2025 11:15:00 @ ACMI 1
• 8867 Wed, 20 Aug 2025 21:00:00 @ Hoyts Melbourne Central Cinema 8/10

Director: Cole Webley
Producer: Preston Lee
Screenwriter: Robert Machoian
Cinematographer: Paul Meyers
Composer: Christopher Bear
Editor: Jai Shukla
Production Designer: Cortni Wimberly
Costume Designer: Sarah Lowe
Key Cast: John Magaro,Tahlia Balsam,Wyatt Solis,Molly Belle Wright

A single father’s cross-state trip with his two children carries a slowly unfolding secret in this superbly shot road movie.

Evicted from his home and reeling from the loss of his partner, a single dad bundles his two children, nine-year-old Ella and six-year-old Charlie, into his car for a journey from Utah to Nebraska. Between the games, rest stops and push-starts that punctuate the drive, the perceptive Ella begins to sense that their trip may contain a hidden purpose.

Led by affecting performances from John Magaro (Past Lives, MIFF 2023) – who masters the internal battle of a father at the brink – and young newcomers Molly Belle Wright and Wyatt Solis, Omaha is a compassionate look at grief, vulnerability and the unimaginable places we’ll go for love. First-time feature director Cole Webley approached Robert Machoian to screenwrite after seeing his Utah-set breakup drama The Killing of Two Lovers (MIFF 2020) at Sundance, and the parallels to that film in tone and emotionally precise storytelling are clear, while cinematographer Paul Meyers captures moments of tenderness inside the car, as well as the expansive landscapes of salt flats and never-ending highway along their journey to the Midwest, with haunting beauty.

“Tenderly devastating … a humble marvel.” – Variety