Nomadland Review: 9 Ups & 1 Down

6. The (Mostly) Fantastic Script

If you can forgive those aforementioned heavy-handed moments - and you almost certainly can - Nomadland boasts one of the strongest scripts of the entire year.

What's really striking about Zhao's screenplay, adapted from Jessica Bruder's hit 2017 novel, is how it avoids the "prestige film" tendency to contrive awards-baiting melodrama.

There's barely a voice raised throughout the entire movie, in fact: it's largely just a series of conversations between Fern and the various people she meets on her travels. They're still loaded with plenty of meaning and emotion, but Zhao clearly appreciates the virtue of quiet devastation.

Needless to say, a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nod is a lock, and it's got a damn strong chance of taking the gong home outright.