Film
The Last Thing He Wanted
A 2020 political thriller that follows a journalist who abandons her career to help her dying father with one final, dangerous task. Set against the Iran-Contra scandal, it's a murky, paranoid film about complicity and family obligation. It demands attention and rewards it with atmosphere rather than clarity—for viewers who like moral ambiguity served cold.
If you liked this
All the President's Men1976
The gold standard for investigative journalism thrillers. Methodical, gripping, and built on the satisfaction of piecing together conspiracy. If you want to see journalism as detective work done right, start here.
But Slower and more procedural than modern thrillers. It trusts you to care about the work itself, not just the danger.

Three Days of the Condor1975
Robert Redford as a CIA analyst on the run who doesn't know who to trust. Perfect paranoid '70s atmosphere: grainy, suspicious, nobody's quite what they seem. The spiritual ancestor of films like this one.
But The plot can feel a bit thin if you're watching for momentum. It's really about mood and alienation.

Atomic Blonde2017
Charlize Theron as an MI6 agent navigating Cold War Berlin during the Iran-Contra era. Stylish, violent, and genuinely tense—a different tempo than conventional spy thrillers but equally gripping.
But The plot twists matter less than the action sequences. If you want a straightforward narrative, look elsewhere.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Last Thing He Wanted
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Under the Volcano1984
Both are set during real political crises but are really about fathers and daughters, duty and failure. Both refuse to let politics be more important than the people trapped in them.
Albert Finney as a broken British consul in Mexico on the day before the second World War. Gorgeous, alcoholic, and meditative—a film about personal collapse set against historical collapse. Same year as your film's setting, but completely different register: intimate rather than paranoid.
But Nothing happens in the conventional sense. It's a character study of a man falling apart. Requires patience and tolerance for sadness.

More like this (8)
Bridge of Spies2015
Spielberg's Cold War legal thriller. Tom Hanks as a lawyer negotiating for a spy swap. Methodical, intelligent, and full of the anxiety of operating in a world where nothing is transparent.
But It's deliberately paced. Scenes linger. There isn't much action in the traditional sense.

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold1965
Based on le Carré's masterpiece. Richard Burton as a burned-out Cold War operative caught between two intelligence services. Bleak, unglamorous, morally exhausting—exactly what espionage stories should feel like.
But Black-and-white, slow, and deeply cynical. It makes spy work look like a grinding, soul-destroying job.

Spotlight2015
An ensemble of journalists uncovering institutional abuse. Measured, methodical, and about the power of sustained investigation and collaboration. Deeply satisfying without ever feeling triumphant.
But It's a procedural about people in offices talking. There are no set pieces, no action. It's all about attention to detail.

The Americans2013
Two Soviet KGB officers pose as an American couple during the Cold War. Claustrophobic, paranoid, and morally devastating. The best exploration of what it costs to live a double life. Runs six seasons of pure tension.
But Extremely dark and slow. Your heart will hurt. Relationships fracture under the weight of deception, and nobody walks away clean.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy2011
Gary Oldman as a retired MI6 agent pulled back in to find a Soviet mole. Glacial, cryptic, and deeply intelligent. If you like decoding as you go, this rewards close attention with a masterpiece of spy craft.
But Almost aggressively oblique. You have to work for clarity, and some viewers find that frustrating rather than rewarding.

The Post2017
Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks as the publisher and editor of the Washington Post deciding whether to publish the Pentagon Papers. A film about institutional courage and the cost of telling the truth in dangerous times.
But It wears its civics lesson openly. Some find it a bit too earnest about the importance of the free press.

The Double Life of Véronique1991
Both films are built on layers of secrecy and concealment. Both have protagonists who discover that the people closest to them are not who they thought. Both suggest that perfect knowledge is impossible.
Irène Jacob as two women—one Polish, one French—who may or may not be the same person. A film about identity, surveillance, and the uncanny. Gorgeously shot, deeply strange, operates on dream logic rather than plot.
But It's deliberately cryptic and symbolic. Clarity is not the goal. You may spend the entire runtime uncertain what's real and what's metaphor.

Moonlight2016
Both are films about the gap between public and private self. Both suggest that the people we love may never fully know us—and that we may never fully know them. Both are quieter than their premises suggest they should be.
Three chapters of a Black man's life—childhood, adolescence, adulthood—shaped by violence, love, and the impossibility of being fully seen. Formally beautiful and emotionally devastating. A film about the cost of hiding who you are.
But It's subtle and sparse. There's almost no plot. If you need narrative momentum or explicit dialogue to feel engaged, this will frustrate you.

People
Cast
Anne HathawayElena McMahon
Ben AffleckTreat Morrison
Rosie PerezAlma Guerrero
Willem DafoeRichard McMahon
Edi GathegiJones
Mel RodriguezBarry Sedlow
Onata AprileCat McMahon
Toby JonesPaul Schuster
Carlos LealMax Epperson aka Bob Weir
Ben ChaseMax Berquist
Julian GambleSecretary George Shultz
Robert SedgwickStewart James
Directing
- Alex ScriccoAdditional Second Assistant Director
- Dee ReesDirector
- Alejandro BerríosScript Supervisor
- Frances StaffordSecond Assistant Director
- Alexandra BurgosSecond Second Assistant Director
- Michelle Malley CamposSecond Second Assistant Director
Writing
- Joan DidionNovel
- Dee ReesScreenplay
- Marco VillalobosScreenplay
Production
- Ashley IngramCasting
- Billy HopkinsCasting
- Cyril MegretExecutive Producer
- James HarrisExecutive Producer
- Jamin O'BrienExecutive Producer
- Mark LaneExecutive Producer
- Robert JonesExecutive Producer
- Walter JostenExecutive Producer
- Wayne Marc GodfreyExecutive Producer
- Cassian ElwesProducer
- Dee ReesProducer
- Luillo RuizProducer
- Adrienne FranciscusProduction Coordinator
- Theresa FrankelProduction Coordinator
- Jamin O'BrienUnit Production Manager
- Laurie E. VegaUnit Production Manager