Frances McDormand must be seen as a treasure for a film maker wanting to make a certain kind of film. She can take a role that may not seem like much and imbue it with texture and depth and beauty. That is exactly what she does with the story of Fern, a woman who is grieving and grappling with a life that has been ripped away from her.
She appears to have been happy in Empire, Nevada, one of any number of American
small towns built around an industry that feels no debt of gratitude to the workers who make their money. When the gypsum plant there closed,
the town of Empire quite literally closed with it. In six months, its post office and its zip code was eliminated. In the midst of this calamity, Fern’s husband
died. She has no family, few friends, and no roots to a twin that exists any more. She thinks about retirement, but doesn't think she can survive on that government check and besides, she wants to work. So she travels in search of work as a
seasonal employee, first at an Amazon center, and she starts living in her van. This is not a motor home--it is a van. She eventually gets involved with a group of modern nomads, people who
sometimes form makeshift communities, but she inevitably ends up alone
again, traversing the American landscape. Her restlessness depicts a segment of older Americans who cannot afford to stop working and may not have enough to live on ever if it is in their vehicles. This is a beautiful and unsentimental telling of that tale.
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