suicide references, infrequent moderate bad language
2020 ( USA ) ( Drama )
DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao
STARRING: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May
Winner of 3 Oscars including Best Picture, Chloé Zhao’s beautifully shot and scored character study isn’t a typical awards winner, or even a typical American movie. Based on Jessica Bruder’s non-fiction book, the film explores 21st-century “Nomads” – cash-strapped lone pensioners who live in vans and travel around America picking up seasonal work.
After Fern (McDormand) loses everything in the 2008 recession, she sets out in a van filled with all her earthly possessions for a new life of cross-country travelling. Nomadland builds on Chloé Zhao’s previous films with a naturalistic style that delicately captures Fern’s journey and friendships without forsaking any of the blistering emotion the characters all try to conceal. It’s a visually gorgeous and deeply moving portrayal of humanity under tragic circumstances.
Nomadland powerfully dramatizes the very human need to find connections in the face of desolation.
(1hr 47min)