As best I can tell, there is only one other “actor” in the film, David Strathairn, who plays David; a man Fern encounters at one of her Nomad RV destinations, and then crosses paths with again down the road. The rest of the characters in the film are all just regular people, many of them actual nomads playing themselves. Spend a moment letting the end credits roll and you’ll see that every character (save Fern) uses their actual name.

I think this is part of what lends the film its authenticity, and helps McDormand tap into delivering such a real performance. She is playing off the real thoughts and feelings of others, and finding an authentic character. I’m not often taken with the subtleties of the actor’s craft but there were moments here where I was struck by how powerful and rich McDormand’s performance was. There are a couple of pivotal moments, where the anguish on her face help you tap into the anguish of the moment, letting you really empathize with her plight. 

When I’m working on film reviews, I keep a notebook where I jot down notes. Typically, they’re things about audio or video quality I want to remember to mention, but with Nomadland I found myself writing down how the movie was making me feel and think—that’s a pretty powerful difference, and I think what makes this film so interesting.

Some of my observations include: “You can have almost nothing but still have pride and take care of the things you do have,” “Choosing how to live and die on your own terms,” “Developing friendships where you can find them and learning to rely on the kindness of strangers,” and “Just because you are down, doesn’t mean you are out.”

I also had a real change of heart towards Fern as I witnessed her journey. Early on, I wrote that she was “living a depressing, solitary existence staying in her van; living, sleeping, eating and spending days working thankless job at Amazon.” But by the end, I changed that view, writing “Fern is a strong, capable, brave, and durable survivor of a woman.”

Director Chloé Zhao—who also wrote the screenplay based on Jessica Bruder’s Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century—chooses to keep the camera in close on the characters, making you focus on them and to really see the emotion in their faces.

Having made the cross-country drive four times myself, you truly see just how wide and vast this nation is, and what seems so small in our digitally, always-connected world is really huge when you have to travel every mile of it, and we experience some of this in Fern’s journey. The cinematography does a beautiful job of capturing the wide, sweeping vistas of open plains and ranges, with deep shadows and contrast as we look out into colorful sunrise and sunsets.

At first, I just thought that Fern had wanderlust, and maybe that is a part of it, but at the end of the film—a time period of a little more than a year—she goes back to one of the small towns to return to her seasonal position at an Amazon fulfillment center. I feel it’s more just a need to stay on the move and not be trapped in one place and to be able to come and go on your terms.

Shot at 3.2K resolution, this digital intermediate is taken from a 2K source, but I never felt at a loss for clarity or resolution. Images are beautifully clean and sharp throughout with tight focus. Closeups reveal tons of detail, whether the lines and creases in characters’ faces, or individual whiskers and strands of hair, or texture in rocks.

Image contrast, depth, and realism are also enhanced by HDR. Several scenes are filmed around campfires, and these have a rich, glowing golden-red light along with deep rich shadows. This also helps lend more realism to the frequent vistas as Fern looks off to the horizon.

I wasn’t expecting a lot in the way of surround sound but was surprised how immersive the 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master mix was. There are near-constant amounts of small background atmospheric sounds that put you into each moment. Whether it’s the creak and groan of springs and metal inside the cramped environs of Fern’s van, or the sound of traffic, people milling about, or dogs barking off in the distance, or the rush of wind outside, the mix does a really nice job of drawing you in. While it’s mostly pretty subtle, this background audio gets pretty dynamic as Fern steps onto the floor of the Amazon distribution center, giving you a feel for the noise and bustle of the job. The audio also does a nice job of conveying Ludovico Einaudi’s mournful-sounding piano soundtrack.

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy or be as affected by Nomadland as much as I was. In fact, I can see this a film that you return to when you’re searching for something in your life, or maybe just wanting a glimpse into the freedom of other possibilities. In a year of questionable box-office releases, Nomadland is definitely a high point and worthy of your attention.