There is a very Soviet and Iron Curtain aesthetic to the movie Nomadland. It showcases bleak landscapes and places of businesses that are larger and emptier than any human mind, let alone a soul. Its main character is a desolate person who still clings on to hope, or something or someone, making things just a bit better - somehow. The atmosphere of the film tells of a world that is keeping its humanity in its smallest pockets but carries nothing of it in its hands.
Yet, the film is not taking place in some Soviet sinkhole. Instead, it is set in the contemporary US, where a changing landscape of economy and politics, as well the broader social climate, make this scenario possible. In it, a woman is forced to live from her van, looking for odd jobs and trying to stay afloat. Nothing more. The resulting movie is both bleak and strangely warming in a Dickinsonian way, but nevertheless a great showcase of a cruel age the US is presently in.
