The Frontier Reimagined: From Expansion to Precarity in Contemporary American Cinema

This thesis explores how the idea of the American frontier is reinterpreted in contemporary cinema through a comparative analysis of Meek’s Cutoff (2010) and Nomadland (2020). Starting from the framework of Frederick Jackson Turner and later critical perspectives, it considers how these films move away from traditional frontier narratives. The analysis combines close reading of the films with theoretical and historical approaches, focusing in particular on the role of landscape, silence, and perspective. Special attention is given to questions of gender and mobility, and to the ways in which the characters experience space not as a site of progress, but of uncertainty and instability. Ultimately, the thesis demonstrates how contemporary cinema is reimagining the cultural heritage of the American West, offering a critical reappraisal of its enduring myths.