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This year has been one of constant change and uncertainty. For some, lockdowns and quarantines have led to a quiet and lonely struggle. But for many people, the solitary life is nothing new. And the film Nomadland tells their story through the eyes of one woman who’s traded a house for a van.
Nomadland explores the transient lifestyle that more and more Americans are now living. After the local mine is shut down and her entire town is abandoned, sixty-something widow Fern (Frances McDormand) decides to load up a van and travel the country in search of work. The journey takes her from Arizona to South Dakota and beyond, working temporary jobs in factories and campgrounds and tourist attractions, while connecting and reconnecting with other nomads, who share leads, support, and equipment to help each other in their difficult but often surprising journey.
While traveling with Fern from one job to another, Nomadland explores the nomad life without pushing viewers to jump to any conclusions about the characters or their lifestyle. After all, Fern’s story is incredibly bittersweet—one of joys and heartbreak. And Frances McDormand gives a natural, effortless performance that makes it feel incredibly real.
On one hand, Fern and many of the other characters are at an age where they should be settled into comfortable lives, surrounded by their family and friends. Instead, they’re living in vans and RVs, traveling from state to state, doing sometimes back-breaking work just to pay for their food and their campsite and the gas to get them to their next temporary job. It’s not an easy life, but it’s what they have.
At the same time, though, there’s a freedom and camaraderie that shines through. This life may sometimes get lonely—but it’s open and boundless and peaceful. It’s one stunning sunset, one gorgeous evening in the mountains, one stop by a flowing river after another. And for some of these characters, that’s just what they want: to explore nature, to be free to come and go as they please.
All of this does make for a quiet, generally meandering film. It doesn’t have a solid plot or any real tension or conflict. It’s just a beautiful but bittersweet story of the lives of these people who go wherever the jobs—and their moods—take them.
Nomadland will welcome you into the lives of these travelers, showing you the joys, the pains, the challenges, and the beauty of the nature surrounding them. It probably won’t inspire you to put your house on the market and hit the road, but it’s an eye-opening experience.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
