Soderbergh Enters the Oscar Race with "The Laundromat" (2019) Trailer

Scene from The Laundromat (2019)

It's looking more and more like Roma was only the tee-off for what Netflix wanted to do in an Oscar campaign. With the recent announcement of 10 theatrical releases, the streaming service is clearly wanting to be taken seriously with films like The Irishman and Marriage Story lobbying for attention. The latest to join the conversation is director Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat, which has among other things Oscar-winning talent in Gary Oldman (The Darkest Hour) and Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice). It's been one of the few exciting films that have yet to make their mark on the season with a trailer, and now that there is one, it's time to start getting excited about Soderbergh and the Oscars again. Boy, how it's been a while.

It's hard to remember, but Soderbergh became one of few directors to have dual nominations in 2000 with Traffic and Erin Brockovich. The indie auteur has never been convenient with his releases, and he's now on his second film for Netflix this year after High Flying Bird. Even then, they're such radically different films that prove just how interested he is in pushing cinematic boundaries and telling stories that he finds interesting. Considering that this is technically only the third year since his "post-retirement" kicked into gear with Logan Lucky, it has produced some interesting results. The only question really is if his highest-profile film in that time, The Laundromat, is going to return him to the Oscar circles after a long time away.

What makes The Laundromat noteworthy is the pedigree behind it. Along with Soderbergh just being an interesting filmmaker, he's got Streep and Oldman in major roles. Streep is also only a few years removed from The Post, where she played a central figure in unveiling the Pentagon Papers. Now that she's unveiling the Panama Papers, it seems like she has a favorite piece of recycling. Hopefully, this performance will be as good as that one, which is among her better roles in recent years. There's also the presence of writer Scott Z. Burns, who has collaborated with Soderbergh in the past but has another noteworthy achievement this Fall. Burns has his own Soderbergh-Esque film The Report vying for attention over at Amazon Studios. Yes, everyone involved has staked their own personal claim in the season, and that leaves plenty to be excited about.

Check out the trailer below:

It looks very entertaining. Here's the plot description according got IMDb:

A widow investigates an insurance fraud, chasing leads to a pair of Panama City law partners exploiting the world's financial system.

What makes the film seem promising for Soderbergh is that he's one of many filmmakers who have taken this season to discuss political and financial corruption. It feels like an unavoidable theme that will show up big. Still, the filmmaker has rarely felt this lively when dealing with the heavy subject matter. Considering that Oldman is back at doing exaggerated voices, there's a lot of easy fodder for Oscar campaigns, and who knows if Antonio Banderas can breakthrough after having a recent run of success with American Crime Story. If nothing else, it won't be long until the early reports start to come out for the film. Netflix is currently planning to release it in September, so hopefully, it will be a nice surprise gem.

Whether it's good or bad, Netflix has become an indomitable force in the past month for this Oscar season. Few studios have an advantage across the board of producing prestigious work on this caliber. Given that Soderbergh is at worst still very interesting, there's no reason to doubt The Laundromat. With a cast like this, it's also impossible to not believe that we're looking at Streep and Oldman returning to conversations often. With a lot of espionage and intrigue to the plot, one can only hope that this film delivers a poignant message relevant to modern politics. Otherwise, it will be fun hearing Oldman laugh at us from his beach chair.