Dirty Laundry (2024) Movie Review: A surprisingly mature take on masculinity and male friendship 

A lot of Rocky Walls’ minuscule indie drama “Dirty Laundry” hinges on the fact that it is leading towards something. Therefore, it is very important for its interiors and exteriors to match up to what the characters are going through. With the film set entirely at a local laundromat and only two major players in the game, it is a hard balance to maintain. Walls, who sets his film in the late nineties is aware of this hard play that he has to overpower. However, with a limited budget and very few surprises up his sleeves, other than the occasional nostalgia bait, he only manages to do so much. That said, this is such a small and intimate film that you are bound to understand and reflect upon the genuineness that went into making it. 

For one, washing clothes can be meditative to some. The idea that the process – if allowed to go through all its key elements like soaking, rinsing, washing, etc, will get you to results is what makes it all the more intriguing. In Walls’ script, The Laundromat is a place where the young boys Kyle (Mitchell Wray) & Eric (Charlie Schultz) meet for their regular meeting to discuss how they will proceed with their business idea. Since this is set in 1997, you can’t expect these young blood to be brainstorming their idea over Zoom calls, and random cups of coffee, and even know what they are doing will be later termed as being an ‘entrepreneur.’ 

With those things out of the way, this definite meeting between the two friends is not transactional or even business-related. For Eric, it comes with the loaded responsibility forced upon him by his father that he should let his future business partner cum friend know that their ‘Prop Pop’ business idea will never fly and that he should call quits on him. Kyle on the other hand has just left his part-time job at the coffee shop so that he could completely commit to their shared dream of kick-starting something that they are both passionate about.

However, as hard as it is to know how much detergent should be used for a certain load (considering this is from a time when automotive washing machines were not in place), telling someone something truthful is not an easy task. So, the two friends meet for their night of washing clothes and exchanging ideas, but both of them are not ready to let their truths out. That is until they are forced to. 

With a touch of magic realism, director Walls puts his two characters at a crossroads where telling the truth becomes a necessity. This not only provides a surprising twist to his tale but also allows him to lead us to the climax confession conjuncture that carefully punctuates the movie’s overall themes of masculinity and male friendship. Using John Hughes as an inspiration, “Dirty Laundry” is the kind of teenage coming-of-age drama that feels like a breezy watch up until it gives us a surprisingly mature take on masculinity. 

For a first feature, Walls does a good job of keeping things casual and charming. With a dollop of nostalgia for good measure, the indie nature of this film gives it the fresh-out-of-sundance vibes that get a lot of beats right. That said, this dialogue-driven film does not have enough fluff and tight character development to sustain 1 hour and 10 minutes. The young actors are also only serviceable with their innate secret only showing up when they are spoken about and never giving us enough groundwork for the climax to have the thundering impact it should have. 

But again, this is only Wall’s first feature and these young actors are only now sharpening their moves so I will let that one slide. For now, I liked what “Dirty Laundry’ is trying to do and I will be ready for whatever the filmmaker serves up next. 

Read More: 10 Underrated Hollywood Movies from the 90s

Dirty Laundry (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
Dirty Laundry (2024) Movie Cast: Mitchell Wray, Charlie Schultz, Deborah Asante, Ian Cruz, Erika Lewandowski