'Nomadland' Film Review

“Nomadland” is written and directed by Chloé Zhao and stars Frances McDormand as Fern, a nomad who lives out of her van and travels around the midwest finding work through programs designed for nomads.

The film opens with text displayed on the scene that reads “On January 31, 2011, due to a reduced demand for sheetrock, US Gypsum shut down its entire plant in Empire, Nevada, after 88 years. By July, the Empire zip code, 89405, was discontinued.”

This fact is able to set up the film’s protagonist as well as set the tone for the film and its other characters: losing nearly everything you know, but learning how to live and keep on moving.

Fern is shown living out of her van which she calls her home. She has dishes, a bed, a toilet, and does contractual work for Amazon, packaging for a period of time and living near the site.

She is in the same situations as other characters, they all live in their vans or RVs and are only able to get limited work before having to move on to another location in order to find work.

Zhao’s use of Amazon could be used to take aim at large corporations who profit off the labor of those who are struggling to make ends meet. However, she restrains from that and leaves it up to the audience to make that assumption.

The director’s main focus is following the character’s journey through this chapter of her life. The viewer truly feels like a fly on the wall as she lets the camera flow around Fern as she walks and talks to her companions, capturing some of the best images of last year, as the film was originally released in 2020.

Fern is told by one of her co-workers about a program set up for nomads, that helps them find work and locations in which they can stay and how they can live peacefully.

She gets involved in the program and meets various people. Each scene where she converses with someone is beautifully written. They often discuss life, previous experiences and what they plan to do in the future.

The viewer is truly able to feel the beauty of what they are saying through the dialogue without having cutaways showing what they are talking about, like other films might do.

Like all nomads though, they keep on moving, leaving the site, except for Fern. She stays behind, for reasons that are unclear at first. She is stuck in a cycle, not being able to move on.

She often looks at a polaroid of her husband who she says passed away, and mentions they worked in the Empire zip code before it was shut down. This is the only hint through dialogue of why Fern has trouble leaving the Empire area.

The rest is told through visuals, which is a signature of Zhao. She is able to show what Fern is thinking and feeling without ever having her utter a word.

The ways she films Fern’s interactions with the land as she is forced to relocate to find more work are just how Fern feels as she discovers the beauty of the world and the land outside of what she has known living in Empire. It is sensual and intimate.

Fern eventually reconnects with siblings and makes a new connection with a fellow nomad named Dave, with whom they are able to teach each other about moving on from the past and continuing to their new future. Through Zhao’s wonderful writing, she is able to teach these things to the audience as well.

“Nomadland” is my pick for the best film of 2020 and is currently in theaters and on Hulu.