The Laundromat
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
- crime
- drama
The story
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.
What it’s like
Bright, flat, and deliberately artificial: Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat plays like a stack of glossy tableaux, with characters often addressing the camera directly and breaking into cheerful asides, so the look is warm and theatrical rather than naturalistic. Much of it is set in offices and hotel suites lit with clean, even daylight, while the Panama scenes glow with saturated tropical color and pale sea-blue haze. Cuts come quick and jaunty, and the score is a bouncy, slightly mischievous jazz-pop that undercuts the grim material. The vibe is satirical and brisk, with an ironic, wry edge and a cool anger underneath. It suits a lively weekend watch or a night in when you want something that talks to you, though its pace is busy and its ideas dense. Intensity is low: there is no on-screen gore, violence is mostly offscreen or implied, and the tension comes from financial deceit rather than peril, with some frank sexual content and mild profanity. It is for viewers who enjoy sharp, playful filmmaking and don't mind being lectured with a grin about corruption, money, and who really pays for it.
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