The Laundromat
The Laundromat

The Laundromat

2019Movie96 minEnglish

When a widow gets swindled out of insurance money, her search for answers leads to two cunning lawyers in Panama who hide cash for the superrich.

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Insights

IMDb5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes51%
Metacritic54/100
Google Users45%
Director: Steven SoderberghGenres: Comedy-drama, Mystery

Plot Summary

This film presents a series of interconnected vignettes that unravel the complex web of shell corporations and offshore accounts utilized by Mossack Fonseca. A widow's investigation into an insurance scam leads her down a rabbit hole of illicit financial dealings, exposing a global network of corruption that affects ordinary people.

Critical Reception

The Laundromat received mixed reviews from critics, with praise often directed at the performances of its star-studded cast, particularly Meryl Streep. However, many critics found the film's tone to be uneven and its narrative structure disjointed, struggling to balance its satirical aims with its serious subject matter.

What Reviewers Say

  • The film boasts a powerhouse cast delivering strong performances.
  • Its satirical approach to complex financial corruption is ambitious but uneven.
  • The narrative structure is fragmented, which some found confusing or detracting from the impact.

Google audience: Audience reception was divided, with many appreciating the star power and the attempt to tackle a significant global issue. However, a notable portion of viewers found the film's confusing plot and inconsistent tone to be drawbacks, leading to a lukewarm overall response.

Fun Fact

The film's unconventional narrative structure, with Meryl Streep's character breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly, was a deliberate choice by director Steven Soderbergh to make the complex topic of the Panama Papers more accessible and engaging.

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My Review

TMDB Reviews

3 reviews
CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

This had the potential to be an eye-opening opportunity to bring to the fore all the devious antics and off-shore activities carried out by people from all nations - but recently publicised by the Mossack-Fonseca revelations. Instead, it de...
r96sk

r96sk

I didn't enjoy this at all, yet I still weirdly reflect on it to be better than it had any right to be. That's thanks to the cast of <em>'The Laundromat'</em>. Meryl Streep (Ellen), Gary Oldman (Mossack) and Antonio Banderas (Fonseca) ar...
Sheldon Nylander

Sheldon Nylander

Remember the Panama Papers? Those leaked documents that detailed how various people and companies created off-shore shell companies in order to avoid paying billions if not trillions in taxes around the world? No? I’m not surprised. It w...