My Beautiful Laundrette

These things become familiar, of course, but how shocking a really moral film like this was, in 1985. Stephen Frears’ snapshot of the 80s was out of tune with its time, but slowly built as an art-house video cult in the 90s. Which is to say, by the time conversations about “identity politics” and “victim culture” had lost enough heat to be handled thoughtfully and seriously. My Beautiful Laundrette isn’t much of a story beyond its intricate web of relationships—including a wonderfully complex romance between Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke. As such, its success rests solely in its spectacular script—one of those movies you’re sure is based on a great novel, though it’s not.