I watched Nomadland this weekend, and while it wasn’t my favorite movie of all time, it really drove home for me why I love film as an art form. TV is the new hotness, and even if it’s not on broadcast anymore, the television format lives on in the streaming world. There’s nothing wrong with TV, and I’d of course agree that it has gone through a renaissance over the past couple decades to become far more respected and compelling and it had ever been before.

That said, I don’t think the TV format is a good fit for all stories, and Nomadland drove that point home for me. Nomadland does not have 13 episodes’ worth of content, nor does it have natural cliffhangers to convince you to keep watching “just one more episode”.

It’s a singular story with no expanded universe, merch, or multiple seasons of content. It’s a story with a start, middle, and end, and that’s it.

TV is great, and I love plenty of shows, but to me it’s a compliment to film, not a replacement.