Not every Hollywood gamble ends in glory, and Anne Hathaway knows that better than most. While the Oscar winner has headlined some of cinema’s biggest successes, one Netflix thriller crashed so spectacularly that even its star-studded cast could not rescue it from a dismal 5% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Years later, as Hathaway continues winning over millions with one high-profile project after another, this forgotten Netflix misfire still stands as one of the biggest “what went wrong?” stories of her career.

But what exactly went so wrong that a political thriller led by an Oscar winner ended up with one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores ever earned by a Netflix original?

Released on February 21, 2020, the mystery thriller The Last Thing He Wanted arrived on Netflix with all the hallmarks of a prestige drama. Directed by Dee Rees and adapted from Joan Didion’s acclaimed 1996 novel, the film brought together an impressive ensemble led by Anne Hathaway, alongside Willem Dafoe, Ben Affleck, Rosie Perez, Toby Jones, and Edi Gathegi. Yet despite all that star power and pedigree, the film stumbled almost immediately, eventually landing a dismal 5% Rotten Tomatoes score, a 14% audience rating, and a 3.8/10 IMDb score, making it one of the lowest-rated projects of Hathaway’s career.

Set against the backdrop of the 1984 Iran-Contra affair, the story follows journalist Elena McMahon, who steps away from political reporting to care for her ailing father, only to become entangled in his secret world of arms deals, covert operations, and government conspiracies. What promised to be an intense political thriller instead became Netflix's most infamous critical disappointment.

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Fortunately for Hathaway, one misfire was never enough to define her career. If anything, 2026 has become a powerful reminder of why she remains one of Hollywood’s most dependable leading ladies.

If The Last Thing He Wanted marked one of Anne Hathaway’s toughest critical setbacks, 2026 has delivered one of her strongest career runs in years. She kicked off the year with A24’s psychological drama Mother Mary, before reprising the beloved role of Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Then came Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, where Hathaway stepped into the role of Penelope opposite Matt Damon in one of the year’s biggest global blockbusters, further cementing her remarkable resurgence.

The momentum is only building. Hathaway will next headline The End of Oak Street, a J.J. Abrams-produced sci-fi thriller arriving on August 14, 2026, before taking center stage as Verity Crawford in the highly anticipated adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel Verity, set for October 2, 2026. Beyond that, she also remains attached to The Princess Diaries 3, Beef Season 2, and Ron Howard’s Alone at Dawn, proving that one poorly received Netflix thriller was never going to define a career built on constant reinvention.

With one of Hollywood’s strongest 2026 lineups already under her belt, it seems Anne Hathaway has long since left this Netflix disappointment in the rearview mirror.

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Have you watched this Anne Hathaway thriller? Do you think it deserved its 5% Rotten Tomatoes rating, or was it judged too harshly? Let us know in the comments.