Editor, writer and director Chloé Zhao continues her mashup of Kelly Reichardt and Terrence Malick with Nomadland.
After the company town she called home dies, Fern is left adrift. House, husband, and job gone, she moves from temp job to temp job in her modified van, at first finding the hustle of such a life overwhelming. It’s not until she finds a group of people like her, self-titled nomads, that she embraces the temporary nature of her new life and learns which things to carry and which to let go.
It’s a light plot, but this isn’t a movie where the plot is the point. Like with Zhao’s influences, she makes movies where character and theme reign supreme, and Nomadland is all about Fern and her shifting place in modern America. It’s very reminiscent of her breakout, The Rider, and undoubtedly different from her upcoming MCU movie, Eternals.
After the success of The Rider, Zhao probably had her pick of actresses to play Fern, and she got a legendary one in Frances McDormand. She can easily carry a picture, but the challenge will be playing off of the non-actors Zhao used for most of the other roles. David Strathairn does appear for a key supporting role, but for the most part, this is Zhao and McDormand’s movie, and those are good hands to be in.
Nomadland is directed by Chloé Zhao and stars Frances McDormand and David Strathairn. It will be released in the US and the UK February 19th, 2021. For international release dates, click here.
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