Setting

Time period

The movie Nomadland directed by Chloé Zhao takes place from the end of 2011 to the beginning of 2013. The action covers a large period of time, but mostly it does so using time jumps, meaning that some events are skipped or presented only in a quick succession of scenes. An example of this would be the period between Fern’s parting from Swankie and her reaching Cedar Pass Camp (00:45:06-00:46:03). Fern travels and sees all sorts of places, having many interesting experiences. However, these are not shown in detail, but only through very short scenes that blend into one another, giving the audience an idea of Fern’s experiences. Therefore, the events of a couple of months are condensed to about a minute.

The movie, therefore, presents more than a year in Fern’s life, as she learns to adapt to life on the road. We follow Fern through two Christmases, two New Year’s Eve celebrations, and two gatherings of Bob Wells’ Rubber Tramps Rendezvous. We also see her celebrating Thanksgiving with Dave and his family.

The movie mentions the Great Recession of 2007-2008 several times, as many of the nomads were forced to take up this new lifestyle because they lost their own homes as they were no longer able to pay their mortgages. We are also told at the beginning about the event that forced Fern to take up a life on the road: in January 2011, the...