Nomadland is a drama film directed by Chloe Zhao. We follow Fern (Frances McDormand), a homeless woman who travels across America in her van looking for a family, a community, the American dream…. Something.
This is a strikingly addressing film, it is beautiful, and it is haunting. It allows us to see a look into fringe America, the area usually forgotten by Hollywood, a place where there are no good guys and bad guys, and there is certainly no happy ending- there is just life, complicated, often obtuse life.
From a cinematography stand point I don’t think I’ve seen a film that makes America look so vast and so empty. The vista and the establishing or wide-angle shots throughout this film are simply breath taking, if this film does not win for anything else it should see some awards love for its cinematography.
The film is very depressing, and I can only recommend it for you to watch if you have either a happy film lined up for afterwards or if you are properly prepared for it, this film bummed me out so much I had to take a break midway through and do something else.
I didn’t love this film, and I think as far as awards contenders go this is on the weaker side. Mainly these issues come from a storytelling perspective, as the film doesn’t really have a story, it almost plays more like a documentary capturing a journey.
Overall, I think this a very bold first film for Zhao and I am eagerly awaiting her Dracula film, and though the film is beautiful, it is also quite weak on story and massively depressing.
Pros.
McDormand
The cinematography
The fringe focus
Cons.
It is depressing
The story feels quite weak and a bit too segmented
3/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 