Laundreams (2026)
There is a lot to admire in Laundreams, and my only real complaint is that there isn't more of it. Amber Gadd and Evie Ward-Drummond's debut short, set almost entirely inside a working Sheffield laundrette, is a warm, nicely made little thing with a real eye for its own small world. It simply runs out of runway before it can land the emotional punch it is so clearly reaching for.
The story follows Minnie and Leah, two young women who have never left their hometown, and the ripple that runs through their orbit when a former co-worker, Danny (Paapa Essiedu), turns up out of the blue, back from London. What follows is a slightly chaotic, faintly desperate attempt to impress him, and a gentle nudge toward the idea that the lives they have been overlooking might be the ones actually worth wanting.
Visually it is a genuine treat. The cinematography, by Nanu Segal, finds real beauty in the laundrette, framing the spin of the machines and the wash of colour with an artist's eye, and the whole thing looks far richer than its scale suggests. The soundtrack is well chosen too, sitting under the piece and lifting it without ever crowding it. The characters are distinct and likeable, and the standout for me is Pete, the old man played by David Fielder, who quietly walks off with every scene he is in.
The trouble is simply time. At this length the film introduces people I wanted to spend far longer with, and a feeling it wants me to have, and then it is over before either has properly taken hold. The ideas are lovely and the ingredients are all here, but a short this brief struggles to make you truly feel the thing it is building toward. I came away liking it, admiring it even, without ever being especially moved by it, and I suspect the fuller, feature-length version of this world would land a great deal harder.
Three stars. Laundreams is a promising, good-looking debut from a team with a clear voice and a lot of heart, and as calling cards go it does its job and then some. It left me keen to see what Gadd and Ward-Drummond do with a bigger canvas, which is exactly what a short like this should do. A decent watch, and a couple of names to keep an eye on.
Reviewed from a screener provided by the film-makers. Laundreams screens at the BFI London Film Festival.
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