THE LAUNDROMAT

Even on Netflix, a lot of people may have missed this Meryl Streep starrer. She plays a woman whose life is upended when a family insurance policy proves shoddy. This leads her into an investigation of the shell companies and offline accounts that shelter fortunes from shady businesses (based around the Panama Papers). Since Steven Soderbergh directed this, he calls upon numerous other stars to round out the cast, including Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Sharon Stone, Jeffrey Wright and David Schwimmer. The film’s focus is on exposing this vast, corrupt financial scheme (as is made even more clear by the statistics screens at the end). Even so, the film still provides a highly-informative and entertaining message. (3 / 5)

OKJA

After he made Snowpiercer and before Parasite, director Joon-ho Bong created this direct-to-Netflix political fantasy. It revolves around a young woman has raised the title character, a giant, genetically-modified pig. When a megacorporation (led by Tilda Swinton) takes it away for “research,” the girl must face all sorts of challenges to rescue her pet. As is typical of Bong, there are obvious fantasy elements, plus political statements and satirical humor. It’s certainly an unusual and engaging story that once again shows the unique and masterful cinematic skills of this great director.  NOTE: Sit thru the credits for one final scene. (In Korean and English with subtitles) (4 / 5)