There is so much going on here. So much texture. I’ve watched the film two and a half times now and I haven’t quite scratched the surface. The defining symbol is a tumble dryer, photographed in close-up in the opening scenes while the garments inside whirl around, contained only by a spinning drum. That’s the movie in essence, barely held by the parameters of form (presented on a screen for 139 minutes) while functional chaos abounds.
The woman staring into the dryer is Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh, magnificent), a harried middle-aged launderette owner in strip mall California who is simultaneously dealing with abrasive customers, placating her cantankerous Chinese father Gong Gong (James Hong), facing the coming out of daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), and ignoring