The Assistant (2019)

Directed by: Kitty Green | 87 minutes | drama | Actors: Julia Garner, Owen Holland, Jon Orsini, Rory Kulz, Migs Govea, Daoud Heidami, Ben Maters, Noah Robbins, Tony Torn, Dagmara Dominczyk, Alexander Chaplin, Bregje Heinen, Devon Caraway, Genny Lis Padilla, Clara Wong, James CB Gray, Sophie Knapp, Hunter Hojnowski, Patrick Wilson

Just as you don’t show ‘Alive’ (1993) to people who go on a plane holiday just before departure, or discourage women who are about to give birth from watching ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968), so ‘The Assistant’ should contain a warning to young, ambitious, graduate women. After seeing Kitty Green’s unparalleled drama, they might think twice whether accepting that job at that interesting company that still has a male culture is a smart move. But hey, you know what, just look at it!

‘The Assistant’ is about such a young, ambitious woman. Jane (Julia Garner) works as an assistant at a film producer. She is the first on the work floor and often the one who turns off the lights at night. Her duties are diverse but undemanding, from operating the photocopier, to delivering sandwiches and coffee, and cleaning up the mess her boss leaves behind—never in view, sometimes muffled. And the latter goes further than just a few cups and plates, but although ‘The Assistant’ never becomes explicit, we gradually realize that it is not acceptable.

What’s so fascinating about ‘The Assistant’ is the focus of the film. We see Jane’s workday through her eyes. So when colleagues whisper to each other, we hear the same snatches of this conversation as they do. You can therefore conclude that her intuition is correct, but at the same time the lack of hard evidence continues to gnaw. But thanks to her decision to do something with it, included in a shocking scene with Matthew Macfadyen as head of HR, Green lays all the cards on the table and there’s no more doubt.

Jane’s immediate colleagues are barely higher up the career ladder than she is, and some are slightly more sympathetic than others, but the disrespect with which they treat her is what makes her furious. Then it’s not even about channeling difficult phone calls (the boss’s wife), but also the condescending when she has to send an apology email to the big boss. And the giggling and shutting out when the two young men overhear a phone conversation is also decidedly inappropriate.

‘The Assistant’ is drenched in an uneasy atmosphere. Jane’s fear of losing her job is palpable in every scene. Garner is phenomenal in her body language. We read her thoughts as if a voice-over is speaking them. Her silence speaks volumes for the viewer. The bad thing is that Jane’s story will be familiar to many people. And you don’t have to have worked for a Harvey Weinstein type to do that.