''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film written, produced, edited and directed by

Chloé Zhao Chloé Zhao, born Zhao Ting (, born 31 March 1982), is a Chinese filmmaker, known primarily for her work on independent films. Zhao's debut feature film, '' Songs My Brothers Taught Me'' (2015), premiered at Sundance Film Festival to critical a ...

. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand as a widow who leaves to travel around the United States in her van as a

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

. David Strathairn also stars in a supporting role. A number of real-life nomads appear as fictionalized versions of themselves, including Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells. ''Nomadland'' premiered on September 11, 2020, at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

, where it won the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...

. It also won the People's Choice Award at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

. It had a one-week streaming

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unit ...

on December 4, 2020, and was distributed by Searchlight Pictures in selected

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme ...

theaters in the United States on January 29, 2021, and simultaneously in theaters, and streaming digitally on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

, on February 19, 2021. The film was a box office success, grossing $39 million worldwide against its $5 million budget and received widespread critical acclaim for its direction, editing, screenplay and cinematography, as well as the performances of McDormand and Strathairn. It was the third-highest rated film of 2020 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which found it to be the most frequently ranked by critics and publications as one of the best films of the year. At the 93rd Academy Awards, it won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for McDormand, from a total of six nominations. Zhao became the first Asian woman and the second woman ever to win Best Director; McDormand became the first woman and fourth person to win Academy Awards for both acting and producing, and the first person ever to win Academy Awards as producer and performer for the same film. It is also the first Searchlight release to win Best Picture since the studio's ownership under Walt Disney Studios, following

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's acquisition of the

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, fo ...

assets. It also won Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director at the 78th Golden Globe Awards, four awards including

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the 74th British Academy Film Awards, and four awards including

at the

36th Independent Spirit Awards The 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films and television series of 2020, were presented by Film Independent on April 22, 2021. Though it was initially intended for the ceremony to air on April 24, 2021, it was ...

Plot

In 2011, Fern loses her job after the US Gypsum plant in

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

shuts down; she worked there for years along with her husband, who recently died. Fern sells most of her belongings and purchases a van to live in and travel the country searching for work. She takes a seasonal job at an

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

fulfillment center Fulfillment house and fulfillment center (in British English: fulfilment house and fulfilment centre) are modern terms for a packing warehouse. The terms were coined in the middle of the 1990s, and "fulfillment center" is usually used about an i ...

through the winter. Linda, a friend and co-worker, invites Fern to visit a desert rendezvous in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

organized by Bob Wells, which provides a support system and community for fellow nomads. Fern initially declines, but changes her mind as the weather turns cold and she struggles to find work in the area. There, Fern meets fellow nomads and learns basic survival and self-sufficiency skills for the road. When Fern's van blows a tire, she visits the van of a nearby nomad, Swankie, to ask for a ride into town to buy a spare. Swankie chastises Fern for not being prepared and invites her to learn road survival skills; they become friends. Swankie tells Fern about her cancer diagnosis and shortened life expectancy and her plan to make good memories on the road rather than waste away in a hospital. They eventually part ways. Fern takes a job as a camp host at the Cedar Pass Campgrounds in Badlands National Park in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

. Also working there is Dave, another nomad she met and danced with at the desert community. When he falls ill with

diverticulitis Diverticulitis, specifically colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches— diverticula—which can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lower abdomi ...

, Fern visits him at the hospital where he has had emergency surgery. They take restaurant jobs at Wall Drug in South Dakota. One night, Dave's son visits the restaurant looking for him, telling him that his wife is pregnant and asking him to meet his grandchild. He is hesitant, but Fern encourages him to go. Dave suggests that she come with him, but she declines. Fern takes a new job at a

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...

processing plant, but her van breaks down, and she cannot afford the repairs. Unable to borrow money, she visits her sister's family at their home in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Fern's sister lends her the money to get the van fixed. She questions why Fern was never around in their lives and why Fern stayed in Empire after her husband died, but she tells Fern she is brave to be so independent. Fern later visits Dave and his son's family, learning that Dave has decided to stay with them long-term. He admits feelings for her and invites her to stay with him permanently in a guest house, but she decides to leave after only a few days, heading to the ocean. Fern returns to her seasonal Amazon job and later revisits the Arizona rendezvous. There, she learns that Swankie has died, and she and the other nomads pay tribute to her life by tossing stones into the campfire. Fern opens up to Bob about her loving relationship with her late husband, and he shares the story of his son's suicide. Bob espouses the view that goodbyes are not final in the nomad community as its members always promise to see each other again "down the road". Fern returns to the nearly abandoned town of Empire to dispose of the belongings she has been keeping in a storage unit. She visits the factory and the home she shared with her husband before returning to the road.

Cast

Production

Frances McDormand and

Peter Spears Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing ''Nomadland'' at the 93rd Academy Awards ...

optioned the film rights to the book in 2017. After seeing

's film '' The Rider'' at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, McDormand decided to approach her about the project. She and Spears met with Zhao at the

33rd Independent Spirit Awards The 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films of 2017, were presented by Film Independent on March 3, 2018. The nominations were announced on November 21, 2017 by actresses Lily Collins and Tessa Thompson. The ceremo ...

in March 2018, and Zhao agreed to write and direct the film. Filming for ''Nomadland'' took place over four months in fall 2018, with writer-director Zhao splitting time between the set and pre-production for '' Eternals'' (2021). McDormand, Zhao, and other crew members lived out of vans over the course of production. David Strathairn, and real-life nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells, also star. Many other real-life nomads appear throughout the film. McDormand, Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, and Zhao produced the film.

Release

Searchlight Pictures acquired the worldwide distribution rights for ''Nomadland'' in February 2019. The film had its world premiere at the

on September 11, 2020, and screened at the

on the same day. At Venice, the film won several awards, including the festival's top honor, the

. At Toronto, the film won the People's Choice Award. It is the first film to win the top prize at both Venice and Toronto.Jason Gorber
"TIFF announces award winning films for 2020"
. ''BlogTO'', September 20, 2020. In association with Searchlight,

Film at Lincoln Center Film at Lincoln Center, previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a film society based in New York City, United States. F ...

held exclusive virtual screenings of the film for one week only beginning on December 4, 2020, the film's initial release date before Searchlight delayed it to February 19, 2021, due to concerns of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. It was released in

theaters on January 29, 2021, with a wide theatrical and drive-in release in the United States on February 19, and streaming on

the same day. A two-week preview season in certain regions of Australia and New Zealand began on December 26, 2020, before a wider release on March 4, 2021. Internationally, the film is also available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

and

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both d ...

. The release date on Disney+ was April 9, 2021 in Canada, and April 30, 2021, in most other countries. Although originally scheduled for a limited release in China starting on April 23, 2021, the film has still not been shown in any theaters there. ''Nomadland'' was released on Blu-ray and digital streaming services on April 27, 2021, by

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, a ...

Reception

Box office

''Nomadland'' grossed $3.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $35.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $39.1 million. Although Searchlight did not publicly release ''Nomadlands grosses, it was released in North America the same day as '' The Little Things'', and sources estimated a gross of $170,000 from its two-week IMAX run, then $503,000 from 1,175 theaters in its wide opening weekend on February 19, for a total of $673,000. Social media monitor RelishMix noted online response was "mixed-to-leaning-positive" among audiences. In its second wide release weekend, it earned an estimated $330,000 from 1,200 theaters, for a four-week running total of $1.1 million.

Critical response

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports that of critic reviews were positive, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "A poetic character study on the forgotten and downtrodden, ''Nomadland'' beautifully captures the restlessness left in the wake of the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

." According to

, which assigned it a weighted average score of 93 out of 100 based on 53 critics, the film received "universal acclaim". Writing for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'', David Rooney called the film a "powerful character study", and added, "Like Zhao's earlier work, ''Nomadland'' is an unassuming film, its aptly meandering, unhurried non-narrative layering impressions rather than building a story with the standard markers. But the cumulative effect of its many quiet, seemingly inconsequential encounters and moments of solitary contemplation is a unique portrait of outsider existence." Adrian Horton of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' gave the film a positive review, stating, "''Nomadland'' has garnered industry praise as a likely frontrunner for the best picture Oscar ... The word of mouth is warranted."

A.O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis. Early life Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' similarly gave a positive review, writing "It's like discovering a new country, one you may want to visit more than once." Eric Kohn of

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

gave the film an "A−" and said, "director Chloé Zhao works magic with McDormand's face and the real world around it, delivering a profound rumination on the impulse to leave society in the dust." Some reviewers felt the film idealized financial despair. Critic Tim Brayton called it "108 minutes of poverty tourism", while

WBUR WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed program ...

's Sean Burns wrote "Zhao has made ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...

'' without the wrath". IndieWire's poll of 231 critics included ''Nomadland'' in its Best Movies of 2020. According to Metacritic, the film was ranked the best of 2020 by critics more often than any other.

Reaction in China

Zhao and the film's success prior to and leading up to the

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

and the Oscars were initially praised on Chinese social media outlets, as well as official state-controlled news media. After the Golden Globes, Zhao was scrutinized by Chinese

netizens The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words '' internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.< ...

over her remarks in a 2013 interview for '' Filmmaker'' magazine, in which she described China as "a place where there are lies everywhere". In response to the controversy, ''Nomadland'' was pulled from theatrical release by Disney China, and the 93rd Academy Awards were censored by Chinese media outlets along with all mention of Zhao or the film on social media.

Accolades

''Nomadland'' won the

upon premiering at the

, and also won the People's Choice Award at the

. It received four nominations at the 78th Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director; in winning the latter award, Zhao became the second woman and the first East Asian woman to do so. It received five nominations at the

and six nominations at the 26th Critics’ Choice Awards, winning four awards including Best Picture, Best Director and

Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

. At the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards, McDormand received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. The film won the

BAFTA Award for Best Film The BAFTA Award for Best Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. It has been given since the 1st BAFTA Awards, representing the best films of 1947, but until 1 ...

in 2021. The film received six nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, winning Best Director (with Zhao becoming the second woman and first non-white woman to do so), Best Picture, and Best Actress awards in 2021. Both the National Board of Review and the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

named ''Nomadland'' as one of the top 10 films of 2020.

References

External links

* * * *
Script
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nomadland (film) 2020 drama films 2020s drama road movies American drama road movies BAFTA winners (films) Best Drama Picture Golden Globe winners Best Film BAFTA Award winners Best Picture Academy Award winners Films about homelessness Films about vans Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Chloé Zhao Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance Films scored by Ludovico Einaudi Films set in the 2010s Films set in 2011 Films set in 2012 Films set in 2013 Films set in Arizona Films set in California Films set in Nebraska Films set in Nevada Films set in South Dakota Films shot in California Films shot in Nebraska Films shot in Nevada Films shot in South Dakota Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe Golden Lion winners Independent Spirit Award for Best Film winners National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film winners Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award winners Searchlight Pictures films IMAX films Films about grieving Films about widowhood Film controversies in China Film censorship in China 2020s English-language films 2020s American films 2020 independent films