The journey of life. An experience with no rules and often no defined direction, yet one that we all encounter. As a highway that everyone travels differently, cinematic portrayals of unique life paths can sometimes be extremely insightful. Written and directed by Chloé Zhao, Nomadland allows us to sit in the passenger seat of an undeniably beautiful drive. Although the film’s repetitive nature and unnecessary length are definite bumps in the road, this trip is certainly still worth taking.
The picture follows Fern, a woman that becomes a permanent wanderer through the American West after losing everything in the recession. Frances McDormand is our lead and is accompanied by David Strathairn and real life nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells.
Adopting a documentary style of filmmaking, Nomadland invites us into a world that never stops moving. It is as insightful as it is emotional, and feels completely real from start to finish. Centred around our main character, every scene is emboldened with a believable combination of freedom and loss. Viewers will feel as though they are right alongside McDormand, the movie’s driver, as she delivers her breathtaking performance. Her supporting cast is superb too, especially a certain individual named Swankie. After just a few moments of storytelling, this dramatic expedition will have you entirely invested and deeply moved. However, once the plot conveys its main themes and purpose, it sadly fails to justify its length and quickly becomes needlessly repetitive.
When taking a drive through the country, the vistas and mountain ranges are initially mesmerising and gorgeous to behold. But once some time has passed, the same landscape loses its charm due to the fact that you have seen similar scenery too many times over. Nomadland suffers this same affliction. Somewhere within the second act, the narrative begins to meander and repeats the same turns a few times over. While every scene is still engaging, the end of the movie soon becomes predictable. In fact, to call it an end is perhaps untrue as there really isn’t much of a conclusion to be found. This may be perfectly emblematic of the nomad lifestyle, but it doesn’t work as well when presented in the cinematic form before us.
When it comes to production and filmmaking, everyone involved must be proud of the vehicle constructed for this tour. The efficient directing by Chloé Zhao must be commended as it is the blueprint that allows each component to fit together. The script itself is the engine. While faulty in some aspects, it still successfully propels everything forward. As the windshield that we view each sequence through, Joshua James Richards’ cinematography gracefully positions us in many sad situations. Finally, the music by Ludovico Einaudi is infrequent yet still effective, like a radio that is mostly off but is enjoyable in the moments it is used.
Nomadland is a film that, despite being too long and meandering at points, holds a lot of cinematic beauty. This trip lacks a destination but makes up for it thanks to the wonderful stops along the way. Above it all, the journey is worth it if only for Frances McDormand and her incredible performance.