Nomadland Parent Guide

Fern (Francis McDormand) has lost everything that matters. Her Husband. Her job. Her town. Patching herself together with what threads are left of her dignity, Fern packs a few, meager possessions into a camper van and hits the road.

Even though she insists she is “houseless, not homeless”, the sixty-something woman still finds herself incredulous at her situation. Things were bad when the recession of 2008 sent all of America into an economic slump. But who could have guessed that by 2011 the factory in Empire, Nevada would be shuttered throwing its inhabitants out of work and forcing them to move away?

Although it is suggested, early retirement is not an option for Fern. She simply can’t survive on her benefits. Besides, she still has plenty of strength and desire to keep providing for herself. She just can’t find a job despite a diverse resume that includes experience in teaching and human resource management.

So Fern and her van drive from place to place, stopping where temporary labor is needed, then packing up and ambling off to look for the next employment opportunity. As she transitions from seasonal worker at an Amazon warehouse to a camp host at a national park, then kitchen staff at a restaurant, she discovers she is not alone. The country’s highways and byways are full of people just like herself. Living in campsites, gas stations, parking lots or on BML land (Bureau of Land Management), this eclectic group of nomads start to become familiar faces. They even have a gathering place and a mentor to teach them the ropes of “Cheap RV Living”. Before long, Fern finds herself making friends, learning their stories, embracing this lifestyle (including skinny dipping – and a shot of full-frontal nudity is shown) and reflecting deeply on her past as she tries to chart a course ahead.

This unique road trip movie is more about the journey than the destination. It’s based on a work of non-fiction written by author Jessica Bruderwho lived amongst a group of wanderers in order to get material for Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. Director Chloé Zhao used a similar method for adapting the book to a movie. She had Francis McDormand become part of the nomadic community that consists mainly of senior citizens. Most the people who appear on screen are not actors! They are the travelers the film crew met along the way. This approach also accounts for the authenticity of the shared tales audiences will hear as they join this caravan.

Straddling the line between documentary and drama, this quiet film speaks volumes about a system that consumes the hard-working years of its laborers’ lives, then discards them when they cease to be useful. While it may be a small segment of society, it is one that is growing. And once you have ridden a mile in their ramshackle mobile homes, you won’t see them, their goals, or the American dream, in quite the same way ever again.

About author

Donna Gustafson

Donna Gustafson has been involved with her husband Rod's work since the beginning. Handling many of the behind-the-scenes tasks, she also creates preview pages for up-coming movies, acts as managing editor and occasionally writes reviews.