Nomadland
Short description
Nomadland follows Fern, a woman in her sixties who loses her job and her home when the economy of her Nevada company town collapses. With her husband gone, she sells most of what she owns, moves into a van and takes to the roads of the American West, supporting herself with seasonal and temporary work. She joins a community of older travellers who live the same way, some of whom become companions and mentors as she works out what her life can now be.
The film was directed by Chloé Zhao, who also wrote the screenplay, and it sits between The Rider and Eternals in her filmography. Frances McDormand plays Fern and produced alongside Peter Spears and Dan Janvey. David Strathairn appears as Dave, while Linda May, Swankie, Gay DeForest and Patricia Grier play versions of themselves. Around five million dollars went into making the film, and it took roughly thirty-nine million worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 7.3 from about 217,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.2 from some 3,500 votes. A critics' rating of 8.8 from 440 reviews is notably higher than those audience scores. Across 108 minutes, the film is a drama set among people living outside conventional society.
What's left behind the scenes
- There is indeed a town called Empire in the state of Nevada. It was built by the Gypsum Corporation for its workers. In 2011, the company closed the mine and gave the workers and their families 5 months to vacate the houses owned by the company. Subsequently, the zip code was cancelled, and Empire became a ghost town.
- Many of those who filmed with Frances McDormand (such as Swankie and Bob Wells) had no idea they were working with a Hollywood star. Bob had no idea at all until the shooting of an emotional scene in which Fern remembers her deceased husband, Bo. He then told her privately that he understood her perfectly and that everything would be alright. It was then that McDormand informed him that her husband's name is Joel Coen, that he is alive, and that she herself is an actress. Wells was very surprised.
- Frances McDormand dubbed the van from the film "The Vanguard." She decorated it with her personal belongings and slept in it during filming. Eventually, she stopped because it was much easier to pretend to be exhausted than to actually be so.
- The film was shot in seven states over four months, during which Frances McDormand performed various jobs typical of people engaged in nomadic activities. For example, she harvested beets and packed Amazon orders.
- With the exception of Frances McDormand and David Strathairn, most of the film's actors are genuine nomads and local residents.
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