Starring Julia Garner (Ozark, Dirty John), The Assistant follows one single day in the life of Jane, an aspiring film producer who has just started working as a junior assistant in a production company. The film has the virtue of highlighting the systemic failure that enables the problems brought to light by the #metoo movement. While the famous producer, faceless and referred to only as “the boss,” reproduces the behaviors frequently described by women now speaking up, the office does its best to facilitate his sexual encounters and, at the same time, pretend that there is nothing out of the ordinary going on.
The movie, written and directed by Kitty Green (from the documentary Casting JonBenet), has one issue though. If Jane’s day feels interminable, so does the film, which has a relevant point of view but would probably have worked better as a short movie, or with a story that takes place over a longer period of time. Yet, given its important standpoint and the talent of Julia Garner, who is able to quietly show the character’s uneasiness and disbelief, I am glad The Assistant is attracting some attention. - Lalu
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