Its a short albeit mightily complex book, featuring ambiguous narration from an unknown figure.
Ben Affleck and Rosie Perez costar in major roles.
Rees sought the book outfor adaptation.
Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute; Inset: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
[With]Mudbound, I was starting from a script.
The book itself wasnt one I wouldve chosen.
This was a book of choice: Its small but dense.
Dee Rees/Netflix
It had that density where it felt like there was more to blow out.
She enlisted writer Marco Villalobos to take the lead on the script and found his choices immediately compelling.
I dont know how Marco even did it.
Dee Rees/Netflix
Villalobos, meanwhile, came into the narrative fresh.
I was trying to close this gap between two cultural icons.
Ive seen the lingering effects of the drug war in the 80s and Iran-Contra is the start of that.
Dee Rees/Netflix
In the script pages shared below, she outlines her favorite scene, when we first meet Dick.
When we meet him, hes exactly that flicking nuts around, ripping off insults a mile a second.
But he loves his daughter.
Dee Rees/Netflix
We instantly get that familiarity: This is a conversation theyve had a thousand times.
We dont know if what hes saying is true, if its a delusion, Rees says.
Is this an Alzheimers thing?
Is this the past?
Is this actually happening?
Dicks the great character who gives us that tension, in terms of what Elenas looking for.
The Last Thing He Wantedpremieres on Monday night at the Sundance Film Festival.
