Streep as Ellen is also wonderful, and only gets more fun to watch the closer her unassuming, middle-aged character gets to unraveling the machinations of the unfathomably rich.

Soderbergh keeps the heavy themes light and even playful, and Streep rides the film's sardonic wave in a double role that sees her donning a garish disguise as a Panamanian office worker.

The Laundromat is unwieldy at times, and its final scene is truly befuddling. But it's worth watching not just for its bitterly entertaining explanation of a densely confusing matter but also the way it illustrates a larger problem.

As awards fodder, or even as an educational tool, The Laundromat barely gets started, and drops into the same dusty bin as War Machine and other Netflix misfires...