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My Beautiful Laundrette

Turkish title: Benim Güzel Çamaşırhanem

“A sharp, sophisticated, funny, sexy, compassionate picture.”

1985 · 1 h 37 min
Directed by Stephen Frears

Cast

Daniel Day-Lewis Gordon Warnecke Saeed Jaffrey

Credits

Written by: Hanif Kureishi

Plot

In Thatcher's London, Omar, a young British Pakistani man, is given a run-down launderette by his uncle and sets about turning it into a smart business. He is joined by Johnny, a white former street fighter and childhood friend, and their relationship develops into a love affair, in the face of racism and ambition. Stephen Frears's 1985 film, written by Hanif Kureishi, was a breakthrough for British independent cinema.

Sinekatalog’s take

Stephen Frears's Thatcher-era drama of a British-Pakistani entrepreneur and his old friend is witty, political and tender. Daniel Day-Lewis shines, and the film's casual treatment of race and sexuality was groundbreaking.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

Ratings

IMDb: 6.8 / 10 (18,979 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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