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

Portrait of Amy Renner Amy Renner

Last modified: Mar. 7, 2020

The Last Thing He Wanted

Release Date: Friday, February 21, 2020 Netflix

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.

Director: Dee Rees

Starring: Anne Hathaway Ben Affleck Toby Jones Rosie Perez Edi Gathegi

R Crime 1 hr, 55 m

  • 1.3 / 5
63% 38%

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?

Plot
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.

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
Producers
Cassian Elwes
Wayne Marc Godfrey
Robert Jones

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 for The Last Thing He Wanted

Completed

Changed The Last Thing He Wanted movie production status. Releasing on Netflix in February 2020.

Production

Changed the movie production status to Production. Currently filming in Puerto Rico.

Development

Changed the movie production status to Development. The movie is likely in scripting, budgeting, or stuck in "development hell."

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Additional Information

Parent 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

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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.

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On DVD, Blu-ray / 4K

  • 2020-04 Estimated Release DVD

Buy/Rent on Digital (Ultra HD)



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Follow the Updates
  • Added a running time of 115 minutes

  • Added a link from netflix.com

  • Changed the US film release date from February, 2020 to TBA

  • Set film release to Netflix

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