Martin Nutty

Nomadland is an astonishing movie which juggles a number of themes as seen through the life of Fern played by Frances McDormand a recent widow coming to terms with the passing of her husband and the death of her mining town which has become a casualty of the shifting economic tides that is modern day America There are no simple answers here, as Fern decides to sell up what little she has to opt for a life on the road lived out of an aging van. There is work in an Amazon fulfillment center during the holiday season and friendships made which draw Fern out onto the road with America’s beauty unfolding There are encounters with others in similar circumstances, the detritus of an economy which has little interest in lives upended. There is fellowship of the suffering an optimism as an alternative life is accepted rather than the American dream originally pursued There are hardships faced by unexpected events, Fern’s van predictably breaks down with a repair that far outstrips her meager resources. Fern moves through this landscape, wary of help offered by others, the possibility of new love. She is a cipher, a carrier of both hope and pain