The Assistant (2019)
Review of The Assistant (2019), directed by Kitty Green
In 2019, as the film industry was continuing to be rocked by the movement that was Me Too, it seems only fitting that a female director come out with a movie like this.
The director, Kitty Green, is known for being a one-woman show; although her resume is quite small, the majority of the movies she’s made she’s been the director, writer, editor, and producer. She really is the entire package deal. I don’t think this is a film that just anyone could watch; as someone whose has worked in the arts industries, it hits a little too close to home, especially as a woman.
This can be a really frustrating film for a lot of people at the same time though too because of how realistic it is.
Despite everyone knowing what happens, the issues of sexism and discrimination are upheld, even by the HR people in the company. The issues discussed in the film are open and dirty little secrets, but no one blatantly gets punished for them. Why? Because rich white men in power.
Content
Our main character is Jane, a graduate from Northwestern University who has been at a film production company for a mere two months now. Julia Garner is spectacular as Jane, portraying the conflicted emotions that she feels as she uncovers the deeper horrors that are openly on display at her company.
But, at the same time, because she is a woman and a new hire, she is basically abused by her coworkers and boss, leading her to accept treatment from people that isn’t okay. And she’s overworked; she arrives at the office early and leaves late at night, leaving her exhausted and stressed out to the point where she forgets her father’s birthday, leaving her feeling even more terrible.
Everything begins to go awry when she realizes that her boss, who is very rich and the top of the food chain here, has been having sex with women in his office. Everyone at the company knows about it but nothing is done at all. It begins to escalate when Jane discovers a new girl from Idaho, who looks really young, is flown in by the boss, given a five-star hotel, and is hired at the job.
The girl, however, has had no training in these kinds of tasks and was previously a waitress. Flabbergasted, Jane goes to the HR guy, who then accuses her of being jealous of the new girl because she gets the job with no effort and has a five-star hotel to live in (while Jane lives in Astoria. Gasp, Queens, what a horror to rich white people). Defeated, Jane does not file a report, but the word gets back to her boss anyways and she is verbally harassed.
Lots of issues are tackled here in this film. We have gender discrimination, as women like Jane aren’t taken seriously in the workplace. She is dubbed “not the boss’ type” and is told to move on and turn a blind eye because there are 400 other resumes that applied to the same job.
Her coworkers dictate what she should send in the apology email to her boss, because there’s a system and ritual of begging for forgiveness already in place. This isn’t a fun topic to watch a movie about, but it’s the truth. This is how men in power have gotten away with this for years, especially in Hollywood. They hid in plain sight. It wasn’t a secret.
If you’re not into the topic though, this is a really boring film. Almost the entirety of it is set in the office in which Jane works at, with some scenes outside on the streets or her running errands to the adjacent building. It takes place in the course of one day in the film’s world, and not much actually happens in the film itself.
There is no action or drama. Just a girl watching injustice go on in the world and being fairly powerless to do anything about it. We also get a sense of classism here going on as well, because the boss is rich, and so do several of Jane’s coworkers appear to be.
But I think what’s supposed to get you with this movie is how real it is, how most women can relate to what Jane’s feeling, or have been harassed sexually by men in power before. It’s a movie that makes you feel seen.
Overall Thoughts
While it isn’t exciting, it’s an important film that needs to be made. While many cannot relate to the aspect of working at a film company, many women can indeed relate to the scenarios that are being depicted in the film itself. Imagine being a young college graduate, one whose busted their ass off at multiple big internships, in order to follow your dream of becoming a producer.
You come into the office of a big film person, only to find him kicking employees out after a certain hour to have sex with random women (while he’s a married man). We’ve heard this story again and again, but it is here we find it unfolding before our eyes. It’s an uncomfortable truth that is real.
