Directed by Chloé Zhao (The Rider; Songs My Brothers Taught Me) and starring Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Fargo; Moonrise Kingdom; Hail, Caesar!; Burn after Reading; Raising Arizona) and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck; Lincoln; L.A. confidential; The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; The Bourne Legacy).
Drama, 107 mins
After her husband dies and the economic collapse of the mining town where they lived in rural Nevada, Fern (Frances McDormand) has lost everything dear to her. She buys a van and packs it with her belongings, leaving the bulkier items in storage, and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad.
As she journeys through the American West, she get work on seasonal jobs, including at an Amazon fulfilment centre in the run up to Christmas, where she meets others like her, including Dave (David Strathairn).
Nomadland features a number of real nomads, some of whom become Fern's mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West.
The cinematography covers some amazing, grandoise landscapes, but the film also captures many small, apparently inconsequential - at least to us - issues that convey the hardships yet freedom that come with Fern's new way of life. One of the issues that is threaded throughout her time on the road is the camaraderie with fellow travellers who understand and support each other.
While slow-paced, the film portrays life on the road with bare, minimalistic cinematic brilliance.
Late in the film she visits her friend Dave who has been invited by his son's family to stay with them, and he invites Fern to stay too: does she want that stability or her freedom back on the road? Her destiny is in her own hands.
I Care a Lot was screened at the Luxembourg City Film Festival 2021
Nomadland won a Golden Globe in 2021 for Best Director - Motion Picture.
