10s Movie Review - The Assistant

Director: Kitty Green
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 87 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Julia Garner, Owen Holland, Jon Orsini, Rory Kulz, Migs Govea, Daoud Heidami, Ben Maters, Matthew Macfadyen, Patrick Wilson, Calara Wong, Noah Robbins, Tony Torn, Dagmara Dominczyk, Alexander Chaplin, Bregje Heinen, Devon Caraway, Genny Lis Padilla, James C.B. Gray, Sophie Knapp, Hunter Hojnowski

Description: A searing look at a day in the life of an assistant (Julia Garner) to a powerful executive. As Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the insidious abuse that threatens every aspect of her position.  

Review: “The Assistant” works best when you go into it as blindly as possible. Not because of big plot twists, but simple because the film only reveals what it’s about bit by bit. However, since it is quite difficult to review a film without being able to elaborate on something, reading the rest of this review is at your own risk. Thematically, the film revolves around the clogged system that resulted in numerous “MeToo outbursts in 2017, which comes as a surprise to both the viewer and the protagonist. Indeed, hints are not exactly sprinkled throughout, although the story does revolve around the details.
The film covers a full work day of a young woman working in a New York office building, where she is the first to arrive and will eventually be the last to leave. Not an unusual day for her. When she asks a co-worker how his weekend was, he asks her the same question. Her answer, “I was here”. Clearly, her work does not allow her a private life. However, the work she does is simple something her superiors feel to good for: from arranging cabs and ordering lunch to doing the dishes and preparing bottles of water for a meeting. All sorts of thankless work for which she is actually overqualified.
Between her activities it gradually becomes clear that she works for a large film company, as an assistant to a powerful film producer. This comes as a surprise, because visually there is nothing to indicate that. The office building shows no trace od the glitz and glamour that we associate with the film industry. There is not even a movie poster on the wall. If Hollywood is the show window of the film industry, then this chilly workplace is the warehouse. The snippets of conversations she overhears are thus not about the creative aspect of the film world, but purely about the business side: markets, contracts and reports. Her job as an assistant is a first step toward a career as a film producer, but it seems that her work is not so much a test of ability as a test of her loyalty.
Remarkably, in carrying out her daily activity, she has virtually no contact with her boss. The man in question is never seen on screen. He is only referred to with ‘he’ and ‘him’. Everyone on the work floor knows who is meant by that. All sorts of things are expected of Jane at work, but perhaps most important is that she is as invisible as possible. So she is quite surprised when in the middle of the day a girl suddenly reports as the new assistant. A strikingly young and attractive girl with no relevant work experience. Add to that the fact that Jane earlier in the office of her boss, found an earring and it suddenly begins to dawn on us what kind of man her boss is. All of this comes together wonderfully in a scene where the assistant wants to blow the whistle on an HR manager. Right at the start of the conversation, the man reassures her, “whatever it is, you can tell me.” And she does, but nothing she says makes an impression on him, after which the conversation soon becomes not about her boss but about herself. It is constantly clear which of the two has the reigns in this conversation. During her long working days, there is never any sign of thanks or appreciation from her co-workers. But at the end of this conversation, she is the one who thanks her interlocutor. For what exactly? Probably out of nothing but simple politeness, which shows that she still has a long way to go in the film industry.
In an earlier scene, we see Jane on the phone speaking to her boss’s complaining wife. The little she says in the process is enough for her to then be scolded by her boss over the phone. In response, she starts writing an apology e-mail, whereupon a co-worker immediately tells her what should be in it. Apparently he knows the drill. He also asks her if she is okay after the telephone tirade, but the question does not seem to come from a genuine interest. He only offers her the opportunity to confirm out loud that nothing is wrong, which she does immediately. Nothing to worry about: the mantra of both power abusers and look-aways.
“The Assistant” is a small film, but because of its realistic portrayal it really makes a great impression.

Rating: 5 / 5