Script Analysis: “Nomadland” — Part 5: Dialogue

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-nominated screenplay. Download. Read. Discuss.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Dialogue.

This week: Nomadland. You may download the script here.

Screenplay written and directed by Chloé Zhao.

Plot summary: After losing everything in the Great Recession, a woman embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

Major kudos to Anthony Jackson for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown , go here.

Speaking of dialogue, how about this scene?

“We not only accept the tyranny of the dollar, the tyranny of the marketplace, we embrace it.” There’s an anti-capitalist sub-theme in the story.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here.

For Part 3, to read the Character discussion, go here.

For Part 4, to read the Themes discussion go here.

To access over 100 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: Nomadland.