Working an office job is difficult, especially working as an assistant where you take on a lot of someone else’s responsibilities. However, “The Assistant” will show us how one goes above and beyond for her boss (even when he asks her to do some grotesque tasks), but the stress that goes along with it.
Directed and written by Kitty Green (“Ukraine Is Not A Brothel”), the film showcases what it is like for a young woman (played by Julia Garner, “Ozark”) to be abused and harassed by one of the most powerful men within entertainment. The film takes inspiration from Harvey Weinstein and his company, where he has been the subject of several sexual abuse allegations as well as being arrested for rape.
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Garner’s take on a woman who just wants to be a film producer takes an important leap forward when she gets a job as an assistant for an entertainment mogul. She plays the character brilliantly, and our review from the Telluride Film Festival labeled her as “one of the most unusual and exciting actors of her generation.”
The performance she gives only highlights how damaging abuse can be to someone, with the review continuing, “She doesn’t need to say much; this expressive actor has the wounds written all over her face and communicates all the trauma and humiliating emotional injury she’s sustained so far.”
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It really is fitting for a film like this to release, it has been two years since Weinstein was first investigated over his sexual abuse allegations, and #MeToo began because of it. A movie like this highlights the importance of how gender discrimination will always be there and how important it is to raise the issue of workplace toxicity.
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With Garner acting in what can only be described as a one-woman show, there are roles for Matthew Macfadyen (“Pride & Prejudice”), Makenzie Leigh (“Gotham”), and Kristine Froseth (“Apostle”).
Here is the synopsis:
Follows one day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, who has recently landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her day is much like any other assistant’s – making coffee, changing the paper in the copy machine, ordering lunch, arranging travel, taking phone messages, onboarding a new hire. But as Jane follows her daily routine, she, and we, grow increasingly aware of the abuse that insidiously colors every aspect of her work day, an accumulation of degradations against which Jane decides to take a stand, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered.
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The film is set to release on January 31, 2020, and is also an upcoming selection at the Sundance Film Festival. Watch the new trailer below.
