Nomadland Review starts with: “I’m not homeless. I’m just houseless. Not the same thing, right?”
It is one of the most famous dialogues from the film that Frances McDormand says as Fern, in the Oscar’21 winning movie ‘Nomadland,‘ released in 2020.
The movie ‘Nomadland’ is called a journey of roaming and yearning. The film is known to be one of the most celebrated and highly anticipated movies of the year. Also, ‘Nomadland’ was the big winner at the 93rd Academy Awards – taking home the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress awards.
If you are one of those movie buffs who love to watch every new hit, you must have watched ‘Nomadland’ right after its release. If not, download FAYVO asap to know about the latest movie releases, most popular series, and trending films all the time.
Nomandland, the movie, is written, directed, and edited by Chloé Zhao. The director amazingly established a spiritual connection to the American West, with its immense skies and wide-open landscapes that speak equally of desolate solitude and freedom.
Let’s have a look at its trailer and then decide further:
Nomadland Review: Short Synopsis of the Storyline
At the movie’s start, we meet Frances McDormand as Fern, who no longer has a good satisfying job, neither she has a husband, nor a house to live in. But it’s a white van that she has adapted, with lots of storage area, to be her only residence. She calls it ‘Vanguard.’
Widowed Fern started working on odd jobs as she travels to America West after losing her job in Empire, Nevada. There she shares experiences with fellow nomads on the fringes of conventional society. A co-worker turned friend named Linda invites Fern to attend a desert winter gathering in Arizona. Fern goes there and meets the fellow nomads.
Later on, Fern’s van breaks down and doesn’t have enough resources to afford the repairs. After borrowing money from some of her friends, she gets it fixed. Then Fern visits her sister and her husband at their place. At this point, the movie goes into a very ordinary phase. Moving on, Fern’s sister loans her money but asks why Fern was never around in their life.
After staying there for a while, Fern returns to her Amazon job and later revisits the Arizona commune. Fern later opens up with a friend nomad named ‘Bob’ about her personal relationship with her husband. Right then, Bob shares the story of his adult son’s recent suicide.
In the end, Fern returns to her abandoned town of Empire to visit the home where she used to live with her husband and hits the road again.
Nomadland Review: Is Nomadland a good movie to watch?
Short Answer: YES!
The story expresses love for the fact that goodbyes are not real in the nomad community. Unlike permanent residents, nomads always promise to see each other again down the road.
McDormand’s deeply empathetic performance holds the film together.
When you watch the movie, you realize that not only is it telling the travel story. But it is the tale of a woman overwhelmed by grief who responds by creating the walls around her heart. She passes through amazing landscapes, including breathtaking sunsets. She sits around campfires, and once, she drags her lawn chair out to the edge of a cliff. There, she admires the view while having a conversation with a friend.
At some points in the movie, ‘Nomadland’ depicted that it is not just about being afraid to love, but about the sadness and pain that make love so hard. The beauty modeled a strong contrast with Fern’s journey, filled with tiny indignities that are nobody’s fault in particular.
It is said that everything is magnified when you are mourning.
Nomadland Review: Here are 3 top reasons to watch & save ‘Nomadland.’
The movie has the most stunning cinematography – Including breathtaking rock formations, expansive desert vistas, neon pink sunsets, purple-hued desert vistas, ancient forests, campfires, soulless corporate warehouses, and campsites.
It encompasses memorable dialogues – Fern’s sister, who lives an upper-middle-class life in a gorgeous home, wrestles with their differences: “You were eccentric to other people. You maybe seemed weird. It was just because you were braver and more honest than anyone else.”
The REAL people in the movie are literally REAL – The Director uses non-actors, real-life migrant workers, throughout ‘Nomadland.’
How to Watch ‘Nomadland’: Where to Stream the Best Picture Oscar-Winner?
Good news!
You can watch Nomadland on a streaming service. It is one of those few theatrically released 2021 Oscar winners that you can stream on Hulu and is available with all subscriptions.
How to Watch ‘Nomadland’: Where to Stream the Best Picture Oscar-Winner?
“‘Nomadland’ is relatable,” said a viewer after watching the movie.
The movie touched a nerve with people who had lived that story. It resonated with the people who (at some point) found themselves in similar situations. The movie is about the people who spend their whole lives working hard, and when they reach the age of retirement, they realize that that the bottom they’d counted on had dropped out.
It is about not-so-lucky people, who have to struggle to find steady work, and about those who witnessed their beloved hometowns empty around them.
With ‘Nomadland’ on screen, we realize that life on the road has never been so tenderly captured, politically alive, and profoundly moving.
