The Laundromat | 2019 | R | – 6.5.7

Why is “The Laundromat” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language, some sexual content and disturbing images.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes female nudity, an extramarital affair between a young woman and an older man, and cleavage-revealing outfits; a boat accident that causes the deaths of 21 people (without gore), an accidental death by electrocution, a death by poisoning, graphic organ harvesting, the murder and burial of two men, the imaginary shooting up of an office, and several arguments and yelling; and over 20 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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A caustic look at the pervasive tax evasion and bribery schemes engaged in the world’s rich and powerful, based on the revelations of 2016’s Panama Papers: While on vacation a woman’s (Meryl Streep) husband drowns in a boating accident and thus begins her introduction to fake insurance policies and shady lawyers Jürgen Mossack (Gary Oldman) and Ramón Fonseca (Antonio Banderas), who manage many offshore accounts that prop up an international corrupt financial system. Also with James Cromwell, Jeff Michalski, Jane Morris, David Schwimmer, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, Miracle Washington, Jessica Allain, Larry Wilmore, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Rosalind Chao. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. [Running Time: 1:35]

The Laundromat SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A pornographic video is shown with two fully nude woman (bare breasts, sides, buttocks and legs are shown) kneeling next to a man seated on a bed and wearing a tank top and boxers (his bare legs are seen); the two women kiss each other and massage the man’s clothed genitals and they all moan. A young woman finds her father dancing very suggestively with her roommate and becomes upset (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details); we see the man caressing the other woman as they dance and he seems to be thrusting. Two women are shown draped over a seated man and caressing his clothed chest (we see their bare legs to the hips and cleavage).
► A young woman confesses to having an affair with another woman’s husband. Two men describe financial dealings using suggestive terms.
► A young woman wears a revealing dress made with sheer fabric that reveals her sides to the hips and cleavage. Three cavemen and a cavewoman wear animal skins that reveal bare chests and abdomens and legs on the men and bare legs and shoulders on the woman. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A woman wears a bikini while in a swimming pool (we see cleavage, bare legs and abdomen). A woman wears shorts that reveal her bare legs to the upper thighs. A woman removes body padding from under her clothing and a wig (no nudity is seen).

The Laundromat VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A woman’s body is shown in a makeshift morgue (we see roasted ducks hanging nearby) with her chest laid open as her heart is removed and placed in a transport carrier; we then clearly see the cornea being sliced from her eye.
► A wave hits a tourist boat broadside and tips it over causing the passengers to be dumped into the water and we see several floating, motionless; the scene cuts to a funeral with many mourners and we hear that 21 people died in the accident. A man driving a van hits a pothole and crashes into a power pole that causes a live wire to fall to the sidewalk, wrap around a woman’s legs and electrocute her (we see her jolt briefly and fall to the ground dead). A man appears ill and sits back on a sofa, he gags, tries to get up and falls on the floor where he dies (we see a small pool of vomit on the floor next to him and we understand that he was poisoned with cyanide). Two men are shown with their hands tied (presumably dead) as they are placed in a hole in the ground and buried. Police enter an area where many people are gathered performing prescribed movements and the officers pick people up and carry them away (there is a discussion of superstition and cultish beliefs).
► A woman imagines walking into a large office and shooting a shotgun repeatedly while looking for a man; we see people running and diving to the floor as they scream (no one appears to be struck). We hear that a priest was kidnapped and killed by police in Panama. Men are shown in a room with a gun on a table as a man opens the door thinking it is the bathroom; the men look threatening. Two men are shown in a jail cell and we hear that they were in jail for 3 months.
► A young woman slaps another young woman in the face and yells at her. A man is arrested for fraud and a woman yells at him as he is handcuffed saying, “You are dead.” Two men are arrested and put in handcuffs. A man says that he has dreams of bodies washing up on the beach and faces floating to the surface after a boat accident. A woman says that a man stole two concert tickets out of his boss’ briefcase. People talk about other people “getting away with murder.” A man talks about having to “put down” his daughter’s horse. A man negotiates with his daughter to “pay her off” to keep quiet about an affair and not let her mother know. As part of a business agreement, a woman tells a man to divorce his wife and he refuses.
► Three cavepeople recoil when a man sets a flame in front of them and when they swat it, it ignites a nearby shrub. A young woman vomits and we see goo. A woman removes body padding from under her clothing and a wig (no nudity is seen).

The Laundromat LANGUAGE 7

 – About 21 F-words and its derivatives, 4 sexual references, 3 scatological terms (one spoken in German), 2 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (big fat liar, drug lords, silly, weak, destroyers of the planet, gun runners, creep, losers), exclamations (oh gosh, grow up), 3 religious profanities (GD, once in a church), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, What In Lord’s Name, Thank You Lord, God). | profanity glossary |

The Laundromat SUBSTANCE USE

 – Two men hold cocktails as they walk and talk, people in a bar drink shots of alcohol and beer, a man and a woman drink glasses of whisky, two men in a bar drink shots, and a man holds what could be a cocktail at the side of a swimming pool. A man holds an unlit cigar.

The Laundromat DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Money, greed, secrets, barter system, credit, futures, commodities, wealth, privacy, insurance scam, fraud, off-shore companies, wealth managers, shell companies, drug lords, tax evasion vs. tax avoidance, business dealings with China, corruption, superstition, gun running, bribery, whistleblowers, checks and balances, tax laws, losers, fate, data breach, cybersecurity, financial instruments, organ harvesting, disappointment, negotiations.

The Laundromat MESSAGE

 – The meek are not going to inherit anything but misery. Tax laws need to be re-written or the wealthy and corporations will continue to run roughshod over those without the means to manipulate the system.