It blew me away how someone born and raised in China could make so American a film as The Rider and of course as everyone now knows that Chloé Zhao repeated the feat with this even more highly acclaimed title. I didn’t like this one as much as first as the camera seems to keep the main character at a distance much of the time and it sometimes seemed to be more about the lifestyle of the nomads in general than any one person in particular. But it does eventually settle on a common thread shared by all these different people and though there may be some debate about how valid this interpretation of their choices may be, it does arrive at a very emotionally affecting ending.

A series of disconnected scenes show Fern’s life as one of the nomads of America. Living out of a van, she travels from place to place doing various seasonal jobs as they become available, beginning with an Amazon distribution center during the winter. In Arizona she joins a community event organized by nomad leader Bob Wells who gives lessons on how best to survive on the road. One day Fern’s van blows a tire and she has to ask for help from another nomad, Swankie, who berates her for not being better prepared. After they become friends, Swankie tells Fern that she is on the road because she has terminal cancer but doesn’t want to die in a hospital. While working as a camp host at a national park, she grows closer to Dave, another nomad she had partied with earlier and they travel together to work at another tourist attraction. While there, Dave’s son comes looking for him. Fern encourages Dave to reconnect with his family and so she moves on to the next job to help process a sugar beet harvest by herself.

There was some controversy earlier about how this film uses the stories of real-life nomads elicited by actress Frances McDormand while staying in character. I don’t think it’s hurtful and it does make the film feel very authentic, so much so that at times this feels more like a documentary about this way of life. It feels frustrating at times as while there are plenty of details about the day to day routines of the nomads, including how they use a bucket for their excrement, it’s not easy to understand why they live the way they do. It’s clear that they’re not making much money, but is this travelling for seasonal jobs the only way they can find employment at all, and are they living in vehicles because they can’t afford houses? The film does offer an answer towards the end: they are on the road because they are all either grieving or running away from something. It makes for a dramatic and emotionally charged conclusion and I really sympathized with Fern’s strong attachment to a husband who is now dead and a home in a town that no longer exists. But I’m not sure that it’s fair to characterize all nomads to be living such lives by choice for the same reasons.

What is indisputable are the amazing shots of the natural beauty of America’s landscape, shown as Fern roams across the land. You can’t watch this and not be struck by the thought that the Americans really are very lucky to live in such a beautiful country. As difficult as life as a nomad is, having to put up with an uncomfortable bed, canned food and public washrooms, I suppose this is one recompense. But I certainly would not want to live this way if I could help it and neither does Fern as shown in this film if not for her personal demons. She herself encourages Dave to give up on being a nomad as he has a family to go back to again. I was also rather surprised that the film doesn’t have some of the themes and messaging I expected. For example, there’s no resentment about having to live a hand-to-mouth existence like this, moving around in search of work. It shows working at Amazon to be a generally a decent experience so there’s no anti-capitalist angle there either. I wonder if this has something to do with Zhao being born in China as it’s hard to imagine an American director being able to resist inserting at least a little bit of anti-corporate messaging.

I still like this somewhat less than The Rider as it is less intense but this remains an excellent film that well deserves the awards that it has won. It really is amazing how Zhao is able to have so strong a connection to America to be able to make something like this without even growing up there. I note that the Chinese government has recently doubled down on its propaganda campaign against her so it’s doubtful that she’ll ever be able to return to China where she is still technically a citizen. But as others have pointed out many times, those Americans who love their country the most are those who were not born to it and so do not take it for granted.