Review of Nomadland (2021) by Jluis_001 — 30 Dec 2020

I loved this film. Frances McDormand is the soul of this story, and without a doubt she's going for her third Oscar.

There are many elements that I enjoyed about Nomadland, because it's indisputably an excellent character study, but there's also a big but, and that was decisive for me to take away points from it, and that was the lack of certain authenticity, mixed with an idealism that tries to make you believe that the life this characters have is kind of a dream life. Certainly the film mentions the reasons for its lead character, but never provides a conflict that feels more proactive.

Life is not easy, that's true, and perhaps it's not a brutal journey of hardships either, but it seems that everyone is happy and smiling at all times.

The material was of course excellent for a documentary, and the director; Chloé Zhao takes a similar visual approach to these, but perhaps spends more time exploring an overly meditative side, rather than criticizing the social and economic conditions that drive or force people to go out and live on the road like McDormand's character.

Nomadland is an enriching journey, and as I said, it has its share of issues that I couldn't put aside, but they didn't hinder my enjoyment of its story. It has deservedly earned all the attention it has received, and it will definitely deserve any nominations it gets in the upcoming awards season.

So if you're interested in a rewarding film, here's a great candidate.