Anne Hathaway stars in the trailer for Dee Rees' The Last Thing He Wanted. Back in 2017, Rees joined forces with Netflix to adapt Hillary Jordan's period drama novel Mudbound into a widely-celebrated movie that earned four Oscar nominations (including ones for screenwriting and cinematography). It was a major victory for Netflix and their efforts to become a legitimate awards season contender, ultimately paving the way for films like Roma and this year's Best Picture nominees The Irishman and Marriage Story. As such, there's a lot of buzz around Rees' reunion with Netflix on The Last Thing He Wanted.
Adapted from the '80s-set book by literary icon Joan Didion, the film stars Hathaway as Elena McMahon, a DC journalist who gets caught up in a plot involving Contra activity in Central America after undertaking an errand for her ailing arms-dealer father (Willem Dafoe). The Last Thing He Wanted will premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival next week on Monday, January 27, about a month before it begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, February 21. Ahead of then, the streamer is getting the movie's marketing underway.
Netflix dropped the official trailer for The Last Thing He Wanted online this morning, just a few days ahead of the movie's debut at Sundance. You can check it out in the space below.
The trailer does a nice job establishing The Last Thing He Wanted's intense tone, but also hints at the troubled father-daughter relationship at the heart of the story. In a recent interview, Rees told EW the dynamic between Elena and her dad was the element that grabbed her attention in Didion's novel, allowing her to explore how abandonment issues and resentment muddle their love for one another. Ben Affleck also plays a key figure in the film, as does Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) actor Rosie Perez, who costars as one of Elena's fellow journalists. Marco Villalobos, who co-wrote the movie with Rees, told EW he was conscious about enhancing the roles for the people of color in the story (like Perez's character) while adapting Didion's source material.
Judging by its release date, Netflix doesn't necessarily see The Last Thing He Wanted as a potential contender in next year's awards season, but hopes to tap into any positive attention it garners at Sundance. The streamer took the same approach to releasing Velvet Buzzsaw and High-Flying Bird this time a year ago, and it presumably worked out well for them since they're repeating it here. It should also benefit The Last Thing He Wanted, giving the film a better shot at finding its audience without getting lost in the fray (as might've happened during a busier time of the year). If the first footage is any indicator, Rees' latest will definitely be worth a look when it streams next month.