Nomadland | 2020 | R | – 5.2.2

Why is “Nomadland” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some full nudity.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a woman bathing fully nude, a dancing scene and a few hugs, a couple of bouts of illness, discussion of the death of loved ones, the loss of livelihoods, nomadic lifestyles, and some mild language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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After a sheetrock plant closes in Empire, Nevada, and the town zip code is discontinued, a woman (Frances McDormand) sets off in her van to find others that live a nomadic lifestyle, traveling from job to job. Meeting other modern-day nomads along the way, she also discovers a new community of similarly minded people. Also with David Strathairn, Gay DeForest, Patricia Grier, Linda May, Angela Reyes, Carl R. Hughes, Douglas G. Soul and Ryan Aquino. Directed by Chloé Zhao. [Running Time: 1:48]

Nomadland SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A woman floats in water fully nude (we see her bare breasts, abdomen, pubic region and legs). A woman’s bare hips and upper thighs are shown when she urinates on the side of a road. A woman takes off her shirt to change and we see her bare back. Three shirtless men sit outside an RV on chairs (we see their bare chests and abdomens). A woman’s bare abdomen and hip are seen when she pulls her pants down to sit on a bucket to defecate.
► A man and a woman dance in a bar. A man and a woman hug when she leaves. Two women hug when they leave.
► A man asks a woman to stay with him and she leaves.

Nomadland VIOLENCE/GORE 2

 – A woman says she doesn’t feel good, complains of a headache and nausea; she then tells a friend that she has months to live from a tumor in her brain. A woman talks about having a tumor in her lung removed and that the cancer spread to her brain. A woman says that she was afraid to leave her house and the town she lived in with her husband after he died because it would be as if he never existed. A woman talks about hitting a low point and considering suicide, but changing her mind when she thought she couldn’t do that to her two dogs. We hear that a man had a stroke and was taken away by his daughter, but that his dog was left behind. A woman talks about her husband being in the hospital on a morphine treatment for pain before he died. A man talks about his adult son having committed suicide.
► When a teen girl asks a woman if she is homeless, the woman replies that she is houseless, not homeless. A woman applies for work and tells the intake person that she wants to work and that she could not live on the social security benefits that she would get if she took early retirement. A woman tells another woman that there are beds in a church shelter because the temperatures would get very cold at night. A man talks about the tyranny of the dollar. A man talks about being a Vietnam vet and that he has PTSD.
► A woman holds a taser being sold at an RV show and is startled when it buzzes. A woman seems annoyed that a man gives her licorice to eat to avoid smoking cigarettes. A man drops a box of plates and they shatter; a woman yells at him and tells him to leave. A man knocks on a van door and startles the woman inside when he calls out to her that there is no overnight parking and says, “You can’t sleep here.” A woman’s van breaks down and the mechanics try to talk her out of fixing it because of its age and mileage; she explains that it is where she lives and she can’t get rid of it (she borrows money for the repairs). A news report talks about polar bears being held until they “settle down.”
► A woman unpacks some personal items from a storage container including a jacket that she holds tight and cries (we understand that it belonged to her husband before he died).
► A woman works in a campground and we see her cleaning bathrooms and picking up garbage; we see goo on a toilet seat in one scene and she picks up a pair of boxers from the ground, waving them around toward another woman. A man lies in bed with a thermometer in his mouth and we see him in a hospital later after surgery for diverticulosis. An alligator is shown in water in a holding area and a man inside feeds it (a woman says he is feeding it rabbits and she yells uncomfortably). A woman’s stomach grumbles and she rushes to sit on a bucket to defecate (we hear gurgling and a splatter). A woman urinates on the side of a road (we hear trickling).

Nomadland LANGUAGE 2

 – 1 scatological term, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (funky, gypsies, ratty, stubborn, eccentric, weird), exclamations (wow, oh my gosh, oops, oh sheesh), 2 religious exclamations (Oh My God, Jesus). | profanity glossary |

Nomadland SUBSTANCE USE

 – People drink beer in a bar, people drink shots of liquor ion a bar, a man talks about meeting a lot of people at AA meetings, a woman drinks at a party, people drink wine and beer with a meal, and several men around a pickup truck drink beer from bottles. A woman smokes in many scenes, a man smokes a pipe, a man asks for a cigarette from a woman and she gives him one along with a lighter, and two women smoke outside a house.

Nomadland DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Homelessness, death of loved ones, nomadic lifestyles, community, estranged parents, self-sufficiency, Dr. Kevorkian, suicide, social security benefits, seasonal employment, bravery, real estate, American tradition, pioneers, loneliness.

Nomadland MESSAGE

 – Home isn’t just a word, it’s something you carry within you. Don’t waste any time. What is remembered lives.