New Nomadland trailer shows off Oscar Best Picture frontrunner

A new trailer for Oscar favourite Nomadland has dropped, and we couldn’t be more excited for director Chloé Zhao’s next offering and Academy Award frontrunner.

Set in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, Frances McDormand plays Fern, a woman who’s still reeling after losing both her husband and her home. Widowed and homeless, she now lives in a van, travelling from town to town looking for whatever work she can get.

The movie is based on the real-life experiences of modern-day American nomads, whose stories were documented by Jessica Bruder in her book, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. It’s the third feature from Zhao, whose previous movies include 2017’s contemporary western The Rider.

Based off this new trailer, it looks like we can expect beautiful landscapes and subtle, heartfelt performances from McDormand and the supporting cast – the movie also features real-life nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells. They play Fern’s mentors and friends as she travels through the vast landscape of the American West. “I’m not homeless. I’m just… houseless,” Fern says at one point during the trailer, and it seems like that line could be an accurate summation of the movie.

Nomadland has already won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto International Film Festival and the Golden Lion, the highest accolade at Venice Film Festival – and it seems likely that a host of Oscar nominations will be next for Zhao and McDormand.

You can catch Nomadland at UK cinemas from February 19th 2021. Plus, there are a lot of other exciting releases on the horizon – check out our list of other upcoming movie release dates.

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.