Movie Review: Nomadland Chloe Zhao challenges stereotypes by capturing the humanity and desire for freedom of elderly American nomads.
by Jireh Deng
O
n YouTube, one can find hundreds of videos where millennials living the RV or van life proudly display how they live off the grid and on the road. Chloe Zhao chooses instead to display another aspect of nomadic life behind the camera as she directed “Nomadland,” in which she received the title of first woman of color to have won a Golden Globe for directing.
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The film itself is intimate and humble as it follows Fern, an elderly American, who is living in her van and grieving the death of her husband after being displaced when a US Gypsum plant closes in Empire, Nevada. We first see Fern grasping an heirloom plate at a storage unit with her belongings and then working a series of jobs including an Amazon warehouse, a restaurant, and camp host.
While the film is avoidant of political themes, the story and themes exist in a larger context of capitalism, and the unique struggles faced by those who don’t fall neatly into the category of “homeless.” Many of her peers are older Americans who are unable to subsist off just social security benefits. The film itself is a closer look at a part of the American population that has been neglected and
Photo by Joshua Richards/Searchlight Pictures
