Review of Nomadland (2021) by Moviemitch96 — 30 Jan 2021

This quiet and soulful drama stars Frances McDormand as a middle-aged widow who loses everything: her home, her town, and her job due to the great recession and packs up all of her belongings and travels cross-country living in her van and meeting several others just like her.

The people who travel and live in vans and RVs and don't live in a house are what's called nomads. Long before seeing this film, I knew it was going to be special, and that it'd likely be among my favorite films of 2020, and sure enough, it absolutely is! I was in tears by the end of this one, and it made me reflect on my own life and the state of the world all while watching it.

Everything about the film can be likened to a beautiful poem. From its touching and impactful dialogue to the gorgeous cinematography to the intimate performances from all involved, even the real-life nomads who appear in this.

Of course, this is McDormand's film to own, who gives the most heartfelt and personal-feeling performance of her long and already-impressive career. Director Chloe Zhao brings out the best in her and furthermore also has crafted a thought-provoking and all too timely-feeling story of being in search of and hopefully finding oneself in such a large and open yet lost and uncertain world.

The fact that this film has been released in the time of Corona makes these themes resonate even more poignantly right now, what with people losing their jobs and not having a house to live in. This film really does hit differently in times like these, and it's hard to imagine it being released in any different time or moment than now.

Overall, this film for the most part pretty much met my expectations, and paints such a beautiful yet aching portrait of loss and adventure, and I can say with upmost certainty that this is probably my favorite film of 2020.