Movie Review - Nomadland (2020)

[Dave Gray]

Nomadland (2020)

Premise: After her town closes, a woman lives in a van.

Rating: A thought-provoking character study that challenges the American Dream.

This movie is a slice of life.  It doesn't have a plot or an antagonist.  It almost feels like a documentary and I'm pretty sure that most people in the movie aren't even actors.  They look like real-life nomads telling their stories.  In fact, when a "real actor" is introduced in a role, you can tell and it almost sticks out as strange.

I like that this movie doesn't give you what you want.  Anytime you think there's going to be some traditional structure that our characters can adhere to, we are denied it.  And the movie is better for it.  I found myself wanting for the lead character in this film against her own wishes.  It's almost like every character in the film is the audience surrogate.  I keep rooting for her to do the things that I wanted, rather than what she wanted.  ...perhaps that's the point.

It says a lot about the American Dream, consumerism, family, living a simple life, the lack of a safety net, poverty, desperation, self-sufficiency....perhaps mental illness and arguably race, on some level.  There's a lot going on under the surface, while doing almost nothing in terms of story.  

Frances McDormand is great, but it doesn't even feel like acting.  She's basically just living in a van, doing van shit.  

This film straddles a line between romanticizing this freedom to be attached to nothing and noone, while also making it seems horrible and depressing.

It's available on Hulu.