Those mountains and plains look timeless, but Fern’s world is 21st Century. She is part of a long tradition of US heroes and adventurers who, as Huckleberry Finn put it, decide “to light out for the territory,” and leave ordinary life behind. In that one shot we see her loneliness and isolation, but also her individualism and resilience. The tone is set by an early image: Fern’s van is the only vehicle on a road surrounded by vast, empty space with mountains in the distance. And its bedrock of social commentary is even more pertinent in today’s economic landscape. Almost a hybrid of documentary and fiction, Nomadland is overflowing with humanity and tenderness for its characters. As she travels from snowy plains to the desert, she meets a cadre of other nomads, mostly non-actors portraying fictional versions of themselves. McDormand brought in Zhao, a brilliant choice, who builds on the strengths she displayed in The Rider (2017): a rare talent for evoking vivid, credible performances from non-actors, and for immersing viewers in the myriad stunning landscapes of the American West.įern, an invented character, is a widow whose mining town in Nevada collapsed financially and who now subsists on seasonal jobs. Bruder chronicled people who, by choice or more often economic necessity, began living a nomadic, hand-to-mouth life after the 2008 financial collapse. McDormand initiated the project and produced the film, a fictionalised version of Jessica Bruder’s non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century. Mulan reboot is ‘humourless and sombre’ They deliver an illuminating, tough-minded portrait of older Americans displaced by society. McDormand, magnificently natural as Fern, and Chloé Zhao, the writer and director, are an ideal team. That reassurance is true but also brave and defiant, reflecting the complex reality beneath the deceptively simple Nomadland, which won the Golden Lion at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. “Don’t worry about me, I’m OK,” she says. “I’m not homeless, I’m just houseless,” Frances McDormand says as Fern, who lives in her van and has just encountered a concerned former student.

Author of nomadland