Nomadland
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Nomadland is a 2020 American drama film based on the 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder. The film is written, edited, produced, and directed by Chloé Zhao, and stars Frances McDormand (who is also a producer on the film) as a vandwelling working nomad who leaves her hometown after her husband dies and the sole industry closes down, to be "houseless" and travel around the United States. David Strathairn also stars in a supporting role. Real-life nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells appear as fictionalized versions of themselves.
Plot
In 2011, Fern loses her job after the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada, shuts down; she worked there for years along with her husband, who has recently died. Fern decides to sell most of her belongings and purchases a van to live in and travel the country searching for work. She takes a seasonal job at an Amazon fulfillment center through the winter.
Linda, a friend and co-worker, invites Fern to visit a desert rendezvous in Arizona organized by Bob Wells, which provides a support system and community for fellow nomads. Fern initially declines but changes her mind as the weather turns cold, and she struggles to find work in the area. There, Fern meets fellow nomads and learns basic survival and self-sufficiency skills for the road.
When Fern's van blows a tire, she visits the van of a nearby nomad named Swankie to ask for a ride into town to buy a spare. Swankie chastises Fern for not being prepared and invites her to learn more road survival skills; they become good friends. Swankie tells Fern about her cancer diagnosis and shortened life expectancy and her plan to make good memories on the road rather than waste away in a hospital. They eventually part ways.
Fern later takes a job as a camp host at the Cedar Pass Campground in Badlands National Park, where she runs into David, another nomad she met and danced with back at the desert community. He is working temporarily at Badlands National Park, but when he falls ill, Fern visits him at the hospital where he has had emergency surgery. They later take restaurant jobs at Wall Drug in South Dakota. One night David's son visits the restaurant looking for him, telling him that his wife is pregnant and asking him to meet his grandchild. He is hesitant, but Fern encourages him to go. David suggests that she come with him, but she declines.
Fern takes a new job at a sugar beet processing plant, but her van breaks down, and she cannot afford the repairs. Unable to borrow money, she visits her sister's family at their home in California. Her sister lends her the money. She questions why Fern was never around in their lives and why Fern stayed in Empire after her husband died, but she tells Fern she is brave to be so independent. Fern later visits David and his son's family, learning that David has decided to stay with them long-term. He admits feelings for her and invites her to stay with him permanently in a guest house, but she decides to leave after only a few days, heading to the ocean.
Fern returns to her seasonal Amazon job and later revisits the Arizona rendezvous. There she learns that Swankie has died, and she and the other nomads pay tribute to her life. Fern opens up to Bob about her loving relationship with her late husband, and he shares the story of his son's suicide. Bob espouses the view that goodbyes are not final in the nomad community as its members always promise to see each other again "down the road."
Sometime later, Fern returns to the nearly abandoned town of Empire to dispose of the belongings she has been keeping in a storage unit. She visits the factory and the home she shared with her husband before returning to the road again.
Cast
- Frances McDormand as Fern
- David Strathairn as Dave
- Bob Wells as Bob
- Peter Spears as Peter
- Derek Endres as Derek
- Linda May as Linda
- Charlene Swankie as Swankie
- Tay Strathairn as James
- Gay DeForest as Gay
- Patricia Grier as Patty
- Angela Reyes as Angela
- Carl R. Hughes as Carl
- Douglas G. Soul as Doug
- Ryan Aquino as Ryan
- Teresa Buchanan as Teresa
- Karie Lynn McDermott Wilder as Karie
- Brandy Wilder as Brandy
- Makenzie Etcheverry as Makenzie
- Annette Webb as Annette
- Rachel Bannon as Rachel
- Bryce Bedsworth as Bryce
- Sherita Deni Coker as Deni
- Merle Redwing as Merle
- Forrest Bault as Forrest
- Saunne Carlson as Saunne
- Donnie Miller as Donnie
- Roxanne Bay as Roxy
- Matt Sfaelos as Noodle
- Ronald O. Zimmerman as Ron
- Paige Dean as Paige
- Paul Winer as Paul
- Derrick Janis as Victor
- Greg Barber as Greg
- Carol Anne Hodge as Carol
- Matthew Stinson as Nurse Matt
- Terry Phillip as Terry
- Bradford Lee Riza as Brad
- Cat Clifford as Cat
- James R. Taylor, Jr. as James
- Jeremy Greenman as Jeremy
- Ken Greenman as Ken
- Melissa Smith as Dolly
- Warren Keith as George
- Jeff Andrews as Jeff
- Paul Cunningham as Paul
- Emily Jade Foley as Emily
- Mike Sells as Mike
- Cheryl Davis as Cheri
