The Last Thing He Wanted Movie Cast, Plot and Everything to Know

Mar. 7, 2020

The Last Thing He Wanted

Release Date: Friday, February 21, 2020 Netflix

Ben Affleck, Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Cassian Elwes, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Toby Jones, Rosie Perez, Edi Gathegi, Dee Rees, Robert Jones, Mel Rodriguez, Onata Aprile, Marco Villalobos, Carlos Leal, Laura Niemi

A hard-hitting reporter becomes entangled in the story she’s trying to break when she helps her ailing father broker an arms deal in Central America.

R Crime 1 hr, 55 m

1.3

63% WILL SEE

38% WON'T SEE

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The Last Thing He Wanted Movie Photo 553893

A hard-hitting reporter becomes entangled in the story she’s trying to break when she helps her ailing father broker an arms deal in Central America.

Plot

What's the story about?

Adapted from the Joan Didion novel of the same title, The Last Thing He Wanted is set against the nebulous milieu of the Iran-Contra scandal. Veteran D.C. journalist Elena McMahon (Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway) abandons the 1984 campaign trail out of a misguided sense of duty to her father, Dick McMahon (Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe). Guilted into running a dangerous fool’s errand on his behalf, Elena leverages the moment to pursue her own investigation but instead gets tipped into the confounding center of the very intrigue she’s trying to expose. Answers turn into questions and wrong turns lead to dead ends in this stylish political thriller as Elena becomes increasingly lost on a map of someone else’s making and the possibility of return — to home and to herself — slowly narrows.

Crime Drama Thriller Mystery Political

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Top Cast

The lead cast starring in The Last Thing He Wanted.

Anne Hathaway
Sesame Street, Mothers’ Instinct
Ben Affleck
The Accountant 2, Air
Toby Jones
The Adventures of Tintin, Serena
R
Rosie Perez
The Hero of Color City, Puerto Ricans in Paris
E
Edi Gathegi
Superman, Better Start Swimming
Willem Dafoe
Nosferatu, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
M
Mel Rodriguez
Onward, Brave New Jersey
C
Carlos Leal
Willie and Me
O
Onata Aprile
Warning Shot
L
Laura Niemi

Crew Behind the Film

The The Last Thing He Wanted behind-the-scenes crew and production team.

The film's director Dee Rees last directed Mudbound and Pariah.

Director: Dee Rees
Screenwriter: Marco Villalobos
Producers: Cassian Elwes
Wayne Marc Godfrey
Robert Jones

Studios: Netflix Originals
Production Company: The Fyzz Facility Pictures

Additional Information

MPA Rating: R Restricted for language, some violence, disturbing images and brief nudity
Runtime: 1 hr, 55 m
Tagline: Not available
Also known as: Not available
Language: English

All Trailers

Official The Last Thing He Wanted movie trailers and clips.

No trailers available.

Production Details

What we know about the The Last Thing He Wanted movie production.

Key Facts

Based on Joan Didion's best-selling 1996 political thriller.

Production Updates

Jan 2020

Completed

The film was tagged as Completed. Releasing on Netflix in February 2020.

Jul 2018

Production

The film was tagged as Production. Currently filming in Puerto Rico.

Mar 2018

Development

The film was tagged as Development.

Release Dates

When was the film released?

The Last Thing He Wanted was released in Netflix on Friday, February 21, 2020. There were 10 other movies released on the same date, including The Call of the Wild, Emma and Brahms: The Boy II.

United States

Estimated

Digital (Ultra HD) & more

2020-02-21 Subscription