Nomadland: A Clever Take on the Death of the American Dream
Francis McDormand appears in NOMADLAND. (Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
By Kevin Murphy
Fern (Frances McDormand) goes through a storage room on a cold winter day. She comes across a men’s denim jacket that, with tears in her eyes, she clutches to her chest before setting out on the road in her van. Not long after, she’s seen hustling through a busy work schedule at a bleak Amazon fulfilment warehouse.
These are the opening scenes to “Nomadland”. Directed by Chloé Zhao, the film is based on the 2017 non-fiction book of the same title written by Jessica Bruder. These early scenes epitomize an underlying theme of the film: corporate capitalism has shattered the American dream, and left many people searching for a home in the world that broke them.
Following t...