The Last Thing He Wanted (film)
In September 2017, it was announced Dee Rees would direct, based upon the novel of the same name by Joan Didion, from a screenplay by Marco Villalobos. Cassian Elwes will produce the film, under his Elevated Films banner.[1] In February 2018, Anne Hathaway joined the cast of the film.[2] In June 2018, Willem Dafoe joined the cast of the film.[3] In July 2018, Ben Affleck, Toby Jones, Rosie Perez, Edi Gathegi, Mel Rodriguez and Carlos Leal joined the cast of the film.[4][5]
Release[edit]
In May 2018, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film.[6] It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020.[7][8]
Reception[edit]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 5% based on 55 reviews, with a weighted average of 2.86/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "It'll be the last thing most viewers want, too."[9] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average rating of 35 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10]
Nick Allen, a critic for RogerEbert.com, called the film "incomprehensible to an almost impressive degree [...] A true Netflix Original Film paradox – not even a pause and rewind button at the ready will help it make much sense."[11] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian called the movie "a two-hour film packed with too much and somehow not enough, The Last Thing He Wanted is a thing that no one wanted."[12]