The Laundromat is a 2019 dramedy detailing the backstory of the release of the infamous "Panama Papers", which brought down the Mossack Fonseca law firm/corporate service provider, as well as revealing details of various individuals' and companies' tax avoidance methods, shell companies and other less-than-scrupulous means of doing business.
Similar to other movies like The Big Short, the movie employs several uses of Breaking the Fourth Wall and Unreliable Narrator throughout - with the caveat that these are all (mostly) done by the "villains" of the scandal (Jurgen Mossack played by Gary Oldman and Ramon Fonseca, played by Antonio Banderas) who are attempting the use the movie as a means of clearing their name. Or at least giving their side of the story. There are several different story threads that run through the course of the movie: the main centres on Ellen Martin (Meryl Streep) who was widowed after an accident on a cruise ship, and who desperately tries to track her way through the maze of insurers and shell corporations in an attempt to discover who can ultimately be held accountable for her husband's death. Another deals with a client of Mossack Fonseca who attempts to bribe various family members in the wake of their discoveries of his affairs. Another deals with Mossack, Fonseca and various employees attempting to cover their tracks and hide any evidence of wrongdoing, navigating the law in order to make sure that they don't actually do anything illegal.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Z. Burns, The Laundromat was released in select theatres on September 27, 2019, before being released on streaming by Netflix on October 18.
This film provides examples of:
- Above Good and Evil: In their narration, both Mossack and Fonseca allude to this. Several reference are made throughout to the belief of "the meek shall inherit" and they both dismiss it, saying that it's useless to hope for such a thing at some point in the future when one could be inheriting it all now and, strictly speaking, not even really doing anything wrong.
- Affably Evil: Mossack and Fonseca are undeniably charming and amusing in their narration segments...but they are also responsible for exploiting and ruining dozens of struggling people and businesses.
- Based on a True Story: The film was based on a book exploring the background of the leak of the Panama Papers.
- Bittersweet Ending / Downer Ending: Mossack and Fonseca are eventually arrested and publicly disgraced...but they only spend three months in prison and they are hardly the only ones operating these kinds of businesses. Some states in the US did introduce some stricter laws in attempt to clamp down on tax avoidance but on the whole, the situation remains largely unchanged simply because, as John Doe's manifesto pointed out, those in charge of introducing stricter laws are also the ones most likely to benefit from keeping the laws as lax as possible.
- Black-and-Grey Morality: Mossack and Fonseca see the situation of the Panama Papers being leaked as being a case of this. No one could identify the anonymous "John Doe" who leaked the papers and no one truly knows his motives for doing so - he could merely have been an employee of a rival company to Mossack Fonseca who in reality was no better than the two of them in his motivations.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Occurs repeatedly throughout the film with Mossack and Fonseca walking through the action to tell us about the nature of finance and money laundering. In the final 10 minutes, the film practically destroys any pretence of having a fourth wall when first Mossack and Fonseca and then Meryl Streep herself indicate the need for immediate reforms in finance laws in the US.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Pretty much all the clients and employees of Mossack Fonseca as well as the two of them.
- Deal with the Devil: The cruise liner whose accident caused the deaths of at least 20 people, including Ellen's husband Joe, are framed as having chosen one of Mossack Fonseca's shell companies for their insurance in this type of manner.
- Dirty Old Man: He's not exactly old but Charles is revealed to be having an affair with his daughter's college roommate (and is clearly taking it as a more serious relationship than she is).
- Evil Brit: "Evil" may be an overstatement but Maywood is certainly not a nice man.
- Eye Scream: Cornea harvesting.
- Glasses Pull: Fonseca removes his glasses for the only time when he discovers the leak of the "Panama Papers" and he slips into complete despair for a moment.
- History Repeats: This is heavily implied in the ending narrations - Mossack, Fonseca and Meryl Streep all point out that there are still plenty of companies just like Mossack Fonseca that operate freely in tax havens all around the world and, until the people who make the laws controlling them are no longer the ones who benefit from them, the events shown in the film could very easily continue happening.
- I Did What I Had to Do: This is the sentiment that was expressed in John Doe's manifesto, which accompanied his leak of the "Panama Papers".
- Jerkass Has a Point: Mossack and Fonseca repeatedly attempt to justify their actions by claiming that what they are doing is almost completely legal and they have absolutely no motivation to stop - both talk the audience through their backstories, saying how they initially wanted to do good and help to change the world for the better but everyone else around them seemed to have no trouble only looking out for themselves...so why shouldn't they have done the same? It's a statement on the selfishness inherent in human nature more than it is a condemnation of these two particular individuals.
- Kick the Dog: This happens to Ellen repeatedly, though the worst example occurs when a realtor tells her that she's already sold the apartment Ellen wished to buy (as well as three others), despite Ellen apparently already placing a holding deposit on the apartment.
- Layman's Terms: The film's narration regularly offers simple explanations of how money laundering, tax havens and shell corporations actually work.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Everyone involved with Mossack Fonseca when the Panama Papers are leaked.
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Money, Dear Boy: This appears to be practically everyone's justification for doing anything in this film. - No Celebrities Were Harmed: Thoroughly averted; the film pulls very few punches about showing exactly who was responsible for what. In fact, the real Mossack and Fonseca even tried to sue Netflix for defamation (though they were unsuccessful). Only one instance occurs by changing Neil Heywood's name to "Maywood", presumably out of respect for his family following his death.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Charles attempts to blackmail and bribe his daughter into keeping quiet about his affair first by threatening to cut off her sizeable inheritance and then by offering her bearer shares worth $2mil. Once his affair is discovered through no direct fault of his daughter's, he ensures the shares are next to worthless anyway.
- Only in It for the Money: Again, pretty much everyone.
- Pet the Dog: The assistant/secretary at Mossack Fonseca expresses sympathy to Charles' wife and daughter after he takes their money and disappears.
- Pyrrhic Victory: John Doe succeeded in bringing down Mossack Fonseca but the job was nowhere near done and it would be very easy for the whole thing to start all over again.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Of a kind. The Panama Papers scandal itself occurred several years before the film was released, but its ramifications are still being felt and the world is increasingly scrutinising any financial wrongdoing by corporations and influential people of the type who were Mossack Fonseca's primary clientele.
- Rule of Symbolism: In the opening narration, Mossack and Fonseca tell us about the origins of money and the concept of wealth, while we see them showing a group of cavemen fire. As they begin explaining how credit works, the fire they lit gets increasingly out of control and destroys a tree previously sheltering the cavemen. The concept of money being a destructive force continues throughout the rest of the movie.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Ellen refuses the pitiful compensation she is offered in the wake of her husband's death since she'd prefer to have those responsible brought to justice.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Surprisingly downplayed. Much of the film is dedicated to making the point that companies like Mossack Fonseca tend to technically operate within the letter of the law, if not in the spirit of it.
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Spiritual Successor: The film shares more than a few similarities with The Big Short and could also be seen as one to Margin Call since all of them detail real stories of financial misbehaviour by those in positions of power and the consequences their actions had on the average person. - Trailers Always Lie: The trailer makes it seem as though the film follows Ellen Martin's quest for justice in the wake of her husband's death. While this is definitely the case, this is only one of several plot lines and the film focuses a lot more on the actual ins-and-outs of the company.
- The Unreveal: John Doe is still completely anonymous. The film hints that it was the assistant/secretary at Mossack Fonseca...until she turns out to have been Meryl Streep all along.
- "What Now?" Ending: Deliberately invoked. The ending is essentially a "call to arms", stressing the need for immediate reforms in finance laws.
