Is ‘Nomadland’ on Netflix? How to Watch the Oscar Contender at Home
Nomadland is expected to be a major player in the forthcoming 93rd Academy Awards. In fact, according to SportsBettingDime, it has a major edge over the rest of the pack and is considered the favorite to eventually win Best Picture at the show in March.
As a Searchlight Studios release, Nomadland falls under the ever-expanding umbrella of the Walt Disney Company, giving it some options when it comes to release plans. Here’s how you can watch the much-acclaimed Frances McDormand drama at home right now.
‘Nomadland’ stars Frances McDormand as a modern-day nomad
In Nomadland, Frances McDormand stars as Fern, a woman laid off from her longtime job at a gypsum plant in Nevada. With nothing left for her where she’s lived for so long, she sells off most of her belongings and sets out on the road, hoping to find work wherever life takes her.
Eventually, she links up with a community of van-dwelling modern nomads, including real-life author and YouTuber, Bob Wells, who gives lessons about living on the road.
Nomadland currently boasts a 95% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on a staggering 303 reviews. It is expected to receive nominations in many categories at the Oscars, chief among them Best Picture and Best Actress for McDormand.
Writer and director Chloé Zhao has made a career habit of exploring facets of American life and casting real people as lightly fictionalized versions of themselves. In her previous film, The Rider from 2017, she cast Brady Jandreau, a rodeo rider whose promising career was cut short by a devastating accident that nearly killed him, in a story that mirrored his real experiences, as well as some members of his family.
Her next outing, however, will take her quite far from the creative wheelhouse that she’s established to date. After filming Nomadland in the fall of 2018, Zhao was hired to direct Marvel’s Eternals, an epic blockbuster about a race of immortal, super-powered aliens who have lived amongst humans on Earth in secret for centuries. The film is set for a November release and stars Angelina Jolie, Kit Harrington, Salma Hayek, and many more.
‘Nomadland’ is now streaming
As a consideration for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Nomadland got a streaming release alongside a theatrical one on Feb. 19. Unfortunately for many who only subscribe to the industry-leading streamer, it was not on Netflix.
Given that Searchlight is now owned by Disney and that the film itself is far too mature and arthouse for Disney+, it was made available to stream on Hulu, as confirmed by outlets like IndieWire. Disney owns a controlling stake in the service and has committed to it as a venue for its releases that don’t fit the family-friendly tone of its flagship streaming platform, like The Shape of Water and the Deadpool series.
Based on all available information, it seems like the film will stay on Hulu indefinitely, as no set timeframe has been confirmed. This is in contrast to Warner Bros’ plan to release films day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max, since those releases only stick around for 31 days.
