Chloe Zhao’s acclaimed awards contender “Nomadland” is set to be released in select theaters and drive-in venues on Feb. 19, along with simultaneously debuting on Hulu, Searchlight Pictures announced on Thursday.
The film, starring Frances McDormand as a woman who takes the road after falling on hard economic times, is also getting an exclusive run in select Imax theaters beginning Jan. 29.
In his review of the film, TheWrap’s Steve Pond wrote, Zhao’s “Nomadland” is a tiny indie film on a huge scale, an intimate drama set against the vast spaces of the American West. It’s also a typical production for the young Chinese-American director Zhao in that its cast is made up of non-actors playing themselves, or versions of themselves — except that at the center of the film is a two-time Oscar-winning actress whose very presence, you’d think, would upset the delicate balance that Zhao struck in her films “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” and “The Rider.”
“Nomadland” is the winner of both the Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion and the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Audience Award. “Nomadland” was also named the best independent film of 2020 at the 30th annual Gotham Awards, which were handed out on Monday night at a hybrid ceremony from New York City, and the best film of 2020 by the National Society of Film Critics.