Anne Hathaway and Willem Dafoe in Netflix film

Actor Willem Dafoe has signed on to co-star with actress Anne Hathaway in the Netflix movie The Last Thing He Wanted.

Dee Rees, who wrote and directed Mudbound for Netflix, will write and helm the film.

The story is based on the 1996 novel by Joan Didion and centres on journalist Elena McMahon, who finds herself on dangerous ground as the Iran-Contra affair’s arms for drugs plot reaches its tipping point.

Dafoe will play Hathaway’s father in the film.

Marco Villalobos will co-write the script with Rees.