I’m still feeling emotionally wrung out after this quietly intense drama, directed by Cole Webley but with the understated feels of writer Robert Machoian’s (The Killing of Two Lovers) all over it. 

This is a family drama, a road trip and a meditation on grief. Dad Martin (John Magaro) suddenly bundles his two children, Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and Charlie (Wyatt Solis), into their rust bucket of a car and heads off ‘on a trip’ with family dog Rex. We see what the children don’t – that they are being evicted from their home and that Martin is struggling to cope after the death of their mother. 

This is what makes the story so powerful, the dramatic tension of knowing that Martin is heading somewhere – Nebraska he eventually tells them – that is not going to be a fairytale ending for the children and that they are unaware of it. The performances from Wright and Solis are incredibly natural and you get a real feeling for a family on the road. They squabble and joke and bring light and laughter. As the road trip continues, you feel like it will never be enough for someone who is possibly having a breakdown. 

There were quite a few moments that brought me to tears – the dog was the first and this is what cements for us where they are all headed. They were not tears bought cheaply though, we are given time to get under the skin of this family, with some exquisite moments and imagery – the swimming pool, the salt flats, so many gas stations. 

I like that Martin feels like a complex character. He has very little dialogue but you do feel empathy for where he is at. The ending has enough complexity to feel authentic and this is underlined by some information we are given before the end credits. It suddenly made it devastatingly real.