One of the most recent projects on Netflix is a political thriller directed by Dee Rees. The story is quite complex, that's why some viewers feel they' ve missed out on some important parts, necessary to make sense of what happens on screen and especially at the end.

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The film starring Anne Hathaway, Rosie Perez, Ben Affleck, and Willem Dafoe focuses on a journalist who investigates political and social problems in Central America and is diverted into arms trafficking when her dying father gives her a special assignment.

Based on a book

The film is an adaptation of the 1996 novel by writer and journalist Joan Didion, who is known for writing about politics and the role of government.

Her novel has received very good reviews, since the public can get involved in reading, despite the fact that it deals with profound issues. In the film adaptation, certain aspects varied, such as the identity of the murderer, changing the triggering character to give the film an unexpected closure.

Not real characters

The Last Thing He Wanted Netflix Movie

This type of story can create doubts in the viewers about the origin of the plot. Although it is set in a historical moment in Central America, the characters and story developed in the film or book are not real.

This plot is an example of the union of fiction with real events, where fictitious characters and actions are created and intertwined with events that allow the development of good stories. Here the set is not only a background, but also part of the events.

Central America as a stage

The Last Thing He Wanted Netflix Movie

Fragments of the history of El Salvador and Nicaragua in the 1980s are told in the film's plot. There it is highlighted that the armed conflict that lasted for years had financial and material contribution from the United States.

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In the film, it is possible to see Elena (Anne Hathaway) a journalist interested in uncovering the events, but without many results after the closure of her investigation. In a later trial, not told in the film, the participation of members of the Ronald Reagan administration in arming, training and financing the Contras was proved at the International Court of Justice.

To trust or not to trust

The protagonist is habituated in her work to dangerous situations, for that reason she is able to face the risky conditions that are presented to her. On this journey, she distrusts the people around her, because anyone can set a trap for her, but she also believes in the wrong people.

Small details that she notices (like her real name in the mouth of Paul, who helped her to hide) make her run away several times.

Elena's investigation

Anne Hathaway in The Last Thing He Wanted

Elena is investigating the events from the inside. She is in El Salvador at the beginning of the film; in those years doing journalism was risky, for that reason, she had to run away when military broke into the office and chased her to the airport, but she was able to escape.

Her newspaper's office in Central America has been closed since then and they don't want to reopen it. It is implied that sometimes it is just a business and they are under pressure to leave the case without press coverage. Despite this, Elena continues to make inquiries on her own, trying to interview government officials.

The hidden character

The Last Thing He Wanted Netflix Movie

Max Epperson is mentioned throughout most of the film. Elena's father instructs her to say this name or look for this man if anything happens, but a later investigation by Elena's journalist friend Alma (Rosie Perez) reveals that Max Epperson does not exist, although Bob Weir does, a man who always appears at the end of a conflict, so his presence means that there are problems.

This character doesn't come out until the end of the film, when Elena recognizes him and runs away, believing she would be safe.

The blind spots

Ben Affleck in The Last Thing He Wanted on Netflix

The plot focuses on how the world is immersed in keeping quiet stories of people who do not achieve their goals. The protagonist fights to bring a story, but reality gradually silences her.

She is a protagonist with an abrupt end, who fails to achieve the objectives she had set, this can create a shock in the viewer, who almost always expects an ending where the hero is safe. Elena also goes blindly to solve her father's problems, not knowing if this situation will take a big toll on her.

Lost

Anne Hathaway in The Last Thing He Wanted on Netflix

The plot shows many details that can be confusing, but the objective is to show that Elena is lost; she went through breast cancer, divorce, her research was suspended, she has problems with her daughter, her mother died shortly before and her father is sick.

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With all these conflicts, she assumes the responsibility of taking a shipment to the conflict zone in Nicaragua. This illicit business had been started by her father and it was impossible to abandon it, because he would lose a lot of money. At one point in the film, she says that she went to Nicaragua for her father and the money and stayed for the story, but then she assumes that she was losing the focus of everything and that investigation was all she had.

From journalist to trafficker

Willem Dafoe in The Last Thing He Wanted on Netflix

Why would someone who is so committed to the truth get involved in an illegal event? In addition to being lost, Elena does it for her father, who is rapidly deteriorating from Alzheimer's and forgetting important events in his life. Unable to take charge, he asks his daughter to take his place.

Her resolute nature ends up putting her in a dangerous position, where she becomes involved in the illegal arms trade. With all these problems, she walks into a trap from which she cannot escape.

The end

The Last Thing He Wanted Anne Hathaway Ben Affleck

Elena is betrayed by Treat (Ben Affleck). He hides his intentions from the beginning and manages to deceive Elena when she is under a lot of pressure and suspicion from everyone.

Treat Morrison, who is a high-level U.S. official, offers statements that Elena was a journalist involved in illegal actions in Central America, but he doesn't know that all the notes she collected during those days are stolen and sent to her friend and co-worker Alma, who writes the real story on Elena McMahon's behalf, so the truth uncovered is not hidden forever.

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