Nomadland

This is one of the movies up for a best picture Academy Award and I wouldn’t be surprised it took home the Oscar. This is a compelling story full of sadness and hope. At the heart of the story is Frances McDormand, brilliant as usual, playing a tough, independent woman named Fern. Fern has lost everything, her husband, her home, and her job. Even her home is empty, deserted in a town that has turned into a ghost town. So she takes to the road and is living a nomadic existence. She lives in her van, traveling the more unsettled parts of America and taking various odd jobs in different cities and campgrounds. Along the way, we are introduced to a variety of intriguing characters. Some embrace their nomadic lifestyle; while for others, it is a tragic happenstance of life that took them out on the road. But there is an indisputable comradeship and mutual support and faith that she finds with her fellow travelers. Despite everything that Fern goes through, she never loses her indomitable spirit and her joyous exaltation of nature. I have read that some of the actors in the movie were real nomads who didn’t have any idea that Frances was an actress. They tell heartbreaking, enthralling stories that you will not soon forget.