---
title: "Nomadland: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/nomadland/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/nomadland"
critics_score: 87
critics_reviews: 27
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nomadland (2021): what the critics said

Critics' score 87 from 27 reviews: 26 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative.

The reviews are close to unanimous. Most critics take Nomadland as a quiet road film about people pushed out of their homes by economic collapse, and praise it for treating them with dignity rather than pity. The praise settles on two things: Frances McDormand’s understated lead performance, which several critics rank among her best, and Chloé Zhao’s decision to put real van-dwellers on screen beside her, which most find gives the film an authenticity a script alone could not. The photography of the American West is mentioned in nearly every review.

The reservations are few and gather around politics. Sight and Sound and The Skinny both feel the film prefers small moments to any argument about labour and exploitation, and the Evening Standard thinks it romanticises a workforce ripe for exploiting. Deadline finds it cooler and more detached than most. The one outright dissent comes from Eye for Film, which finds McDormand miscast and the direction contrived. Otherwise the spread is narrow.

## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin

Rating 5/5. 

Chloé Zhao’s hauntingly beautiful Oscar winner follows a widow joining America’s drifters after economic hardship. The critic highlights Frances McDormand’s subtle, egoless performance as one of the finest of her career and the film’s authentic use of real van-dwellers.

[Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/nomadland-review-frances-mcdormand-goes-run-american-carnage/)

## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen

Rating 5/5. 4 March 2021. 

Zhao transforms a story of economic catastrophe into a poignant, deeply felt road movie with raw emotional honesty and an almost spiritual connection to the landscape. McDormand is magnetic as a quietly fierce avatar for economic anxiety, and the film expertly stitches realism, transcendence and lightly-worn radicalism.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/nomadland-2021)

## Empire — Ian Freer

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 April 2021. 

The film is a miracle, a state-of-the-nation address about a forgotten underclass and a portrait of quiet resilience. Zhao elevates her art with a beautifully made, clear-eyed view of home, loss and the visibility of women, delivered with a huge emotional wallop.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/nomadland/)

## IndieWire — Eric Kohn

Rating A-. 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

The critic praises the magical combo of Frances McDormand and Chloé Zhao in a lyrical road movie that delivers a profound rumination on leaving society behind. Singles out the director's ability to work magic with McDormand’s face and the real world around it.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/nomadland-review-1234585838/)

## Little White Lies — Hannah Strong

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

Zhao chronicles a year in the life of one woman forced onto the road after her town closes, delivering an achingly tender look at resilience and community among modern nomads. McDormand gives an understated performance of utmost tenderness and care amid stunning images of the American wilderness.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/festivals/nomadland-first-look-review)

## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 2 December 2020. 

Chang lauds McDormand's finest performance and Zhao's lyrical, graceful ode to wanderlust and resilience amid economic ruin, highlighting the spiritual grace and real nomads' stories.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-02/nomadland-review-frances-mcdormand)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

Chloé Zhao’s poetic migrant worker drama holds a mirror to society with clarity of thought on home, the environment, women, the elderly and human kindness. McDormand leads with formidable acuity in a significant departure for the director that remains rooted in her appreciation for the American West.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/nomadland-venice-review/5152798.article)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 2 May 2021. 

Zhao’s Oscar-winning film is a gentle tone poem that eschews dramatic conflict for quiet humanity and community among America’s new nomads. The critic praises the authentic mix of professional and non-professional performers and the film’s empathetic portrait of resilience and kindness.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/may/02/nomadland-review-chloe-zhao-frances-mcdormand)

## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

The critic describes it as a powerful character study of a different kind of freedom fighter. Singles out the lived-in authenticity of the story and McDormand's remarkable performance of melancholy gravitas.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/nomadland-film-review-venice-2020-4058601/)

## The i Paper — James Mottram

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

McDormand is terrific in this quietly powerful story about a woman overcoming loss of her husband, job and community. Zhao focuses on the little beats of life, her characters dwarfed by the vastness of the American landscape, and the film is about living and moving forward even in the face of economic despair.

[Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/nomadland-review-frances-mcdormand-powerful-story-love-loss-643748)

## Vulture

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 December 2020. 

The critic calls it a devastating film about the delicacies of being 'houseless' that could be the feature of the year. Singles out the melancholy grandeur of the American West told through the nomads' stories of hard-won independence.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/nomadland-movie-review-frances-mcdormand-finds-america.html)

## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 November 2020. 

The critic praises the film's portrayal of economic hardship and Fern's resilient independence, singling out McDormand's grounded performance and Zhao's blend of documentary and fiction for its fierce sadness and beauty.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/07/economic-ruthlessness-on-the-open-road-in-nomadland)

## Variety — Peter Debruge

Rating Critics Pick. 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

Debruge celebrates the tender, romantic portrayal of nomadic life and independence, praising McDormand's rich role and Zhao's empathetic, scenic direction blending fact and fiction.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/nomadland-review-frances-mcdormand-chloe-zhao-1234766395/)

## Sight and Sound

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 April 2021. 

The film captures the allure of backcountry wandering and the struggles of drifters without artifice or poverty porn, with McDormand delivering a grounded performance amid majestic landscapes. It is an undeniably rousing experiment whose insights into 21st-century labour and exploitation lack force and clarity.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/nomadland-2020-chloe-zhao-frances-mcdormand-american-drifters)

## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 30 April 2021. 

This extraordinary film gives a voice to the marginalised and solves the riddle of how to keep going in the face of death. Zhao’s follow-up romanticises the lot of a workforce ripe for exploitation in places but the end justifies the means as it makes clear that capitalism is unfit for purpose.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/nomadland-review-chloe-zhao-oscars-best-film-best-director-a4572105.html)

## /Film — Chris Evangelista

Rating 10/10. 14 September 2020. Festival review. 

Nomadland is an achingly beautiful drama where Frances McDormand is sublime. It gives her another opportunity to show unparalleled performance in a gritty and gorgeous film that is good for your soul.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/576543/nomadland-review/)

## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh

Rating 5/5. 12 September 2020. Festival review. 

Zhao's film is a beautifully told tale of courage and compassion, with Frances McDormand giving a career-best performance as Fern. It shines a light on the hidden lives of transient middle-aged workers in the US and confers dignity to this resilient community.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/nomadland-review/)

## NME — Greg Wetherall

Rating 5/5. 11 April 2021. 

Calls the film a moving road movie like a Bruce Springsteen song, full of semi-socialist rhetoric and contemplation on the American soul. Singles out McDormand's career-best, strong-willed performance as the optimistic Fern.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/nomadland-review-2917986)

## Collider — Matt Goldberg

Rating A. 12 September 2020. Festival review. 

The critic calls Zhao a magician for capturing humanity with empathy and without sentimentality; singles out McDormand’s quietly empathetic lead performance as central to the film’s ode to resilience and life beyond the American Dream.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/nomadland-review-frances-mcdormand-chloe-zhao/)

## Consequence

Rating Editor's Pick. 15 February 2021. Festival review. 

Zhao’s latest is a gorgeous, lyrical film that serves as a testament to the beauty of the American Midwest and the value of living an unorthodox life; singles out McDormand’s authentic, head-strong lead performance.

[Read the review](https://consequence.net/2021/02/film-review-nomadland-2/)

## Den of Geek — David Crow

Rating 4.5/5. 14 September 2020. Festival review. 

Praises Chloé Zhao for seamlessly weaving conflicting emotions into a magnificent ode to American nomads left behind by economic forces. Singles out the beauty of the landscapes and McDormand's searing performance matched by real-life nomads.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/nomadland-review-frances-mcdormand/)

## Polygon — Karen Han

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 2021. Festival review. 

Zhao’s stunning movie makes the journey matter most; singles out the film’s attentiveness and empathy, especially in small moments that distinguish it as one of 2020’s best.

[Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/movies/22291289/nomadland-review-frances-mcdormand-chloe-zhao/)

## The Playlist — Jessica Kiang

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

Nomadland is a quiet, enormous, deep breath of a movie that is wise and beautiful, summoned up entirely from things authentically seen, felt, and thought. It carries in its nomad heart all it needs, with superlative photography and real-life nomads.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/nomadland-venice-review-20200911/)

## The Wrap — Steve Pond

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 February 2021. 

The critic calls the film a gentle, uncommonly rich drama in which the main character hits the road not to get away from home, but to find it. It singles out the grounded, non-vain performances that blend seamlessly with non-actors in the textures of nomadic existence.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/nomadland-film-review-france-mcdormand-chloe-zhao/)

## The Skinny — Rory Doherty

Rating 4/5. 13 April 2021. 

Describes a visually gorgeous and deeply moving naturalistic portrayal of humanity under tragic circumstances. Praises Zhao's direction of non-professional actors and McDormand's alive performance, while noting a focus on small moments over larger political points.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/nomadland)

## Deadline — Todd McCarthy

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2020. Festival review. 

The critic describes the film as a cool, contemplative look at contemporary American outcasts whose foothold in society grows more precarious. It singles out the rewarding illumination of older working people left behind in backwaters with no prospects.

[Read the review](https://deadline.com/2020/09/nomadland-review-chloe-zhao-frances-mcdormand-1234575485/)

## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 2020. Festival review. 

The casting of McDormand as the lead falls flat and makes it difficult to suspend disbelief in this story of a woman living in a van. The direction is a cul-de-sac of its own making, with contrived scenes and a loss of focus.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/nomadland-2020-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/nomadland.md