Nomadland (2020)

Director: Chloé Zhao

Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May

A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

I’m sorry, but I have to ask this: who had to sleep with whom to ensure ‘Nomadland’ wins the Oscar for Best Picture? How is it possible for a film with a hair-thin plotline, and no character development whatsoever to win in this category? It quite simply is beyond comprehension.

The entire time I was waiting for something interesting to happen. Anything!! But nothing ever happens in this dreary movie. Frances McDormand stars as Fern, a houseless woman, not homeless. She works part-time for Amazon (oh, wait, maybe this is an Amazon advert disguised as a film, which will explain why there’s no plot!). She lives in her camper van and travels from town to town, parks on camping grounds, and takes small jobs to make a living. These jobs are shown only through stitching together very short clips of her in various places. None of these jobs contribute to the film in any way or introduce us to interesting characters.

Speaking of characters, there honestly were no interesting characters – apart from Fern, I guess. There was a hint of a romance interest in the form of Dave (David Strathairn), but this – like everything else in the movie – is underdeveloped and has no payoff. What was the point of this film? Why? If this was a documentary it would have made perfect sense. But as a movie, it is the personification of boring and pointless, and was most definitely not entertaining. (Doing research on the movie, I found the nomads in the film, are actual nomads, playing different version of themselves. Maybe this is why it felt like a documentary, why there was no plot, why there were no interesting characters, and why critics loved it so much. I guess I was missing the point.)

What did I enjoy about the film? The beautiful wintery scenery, which allowed for beautiful cinematography. And the performances all round were very natural. But there was way too much (uninteresting) talk, and talk, and more talk. And why did we have to see Fern taking a dump when it added nothing to the film? Several times. Just why??

What surprised me even more than the burning question as to why this movie was made, is the fact it earned $39.5 million at the box office on a $5 million budget, and the fact it received universal acclaim. It received 412 award nominations (!!!! I kid you not!!!), winning 256 – including Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Directing. I think there must be something wrong with ME for not liking this movie…

Would I watch it again? Yawn, please, no!