Review: The Assistant (Sundance 2020)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

PLOT: A young woman (Julia Garner) works as an assistant to a predatory New York-based movie mogul.

REVIEW: In essence, THE ASSISTANT is the first (but likely not the last) movie about Harvey Weinstein. Due for a theatrical release next month through Bleecker Street, it’s well-timed considering that his trial is currently underway, with damming testimony each and every day giving us deeper insight into the culture of abuse that was seemingly a day-to-day thing at Miramax and The Weinstein Company. One of the big questions has been whether or not the people who worked for Weinstein knew, and how complicit they were in his crimes.

Kitty Green’s THE ASSISTANT gives voice to the many underlings Weinstein burned through over the years, many of whom were shackled by NDA’s or the threat of career ruin were they to speak up. THE ASSISTANT takes you inside the corporate culture in a minimalist way, taking place over one seemingly endless day in the New York office of what one can assume is The Weinstein Company as Kelly Garner’s Jane spends a day working for her tyrannical, unseen boss. We track her as she arrives in the middle of the night on a Monday morning to do things both routine (printing up the weekend box office, making coffee) and distinctly not routine (cleaning fluids off the “casting couch”, retrieving lost jewelry left in his office) while also fielding calls from her boss’s frazzled wife. We never see the man who would be Weinstein, although we hear his voice on the phone as he berates Jane in random fits of pique (let’s not forget – in addition to being a sex abuser he was also a world-class bully).

Anyone looking for a sense of empowerment or a happy ending should look elsewhere. That’s not this movie. Rather, it’s an honest look into a permissive culture where going with the flow was easier than blowing the whistle, with Jane’s trip to a slimy HR guru (Matthew Macfayden) having disastrous results. You’re not asked to sympathize with Jane or even understand her – rather it just presents what went on in a matter of fact way. Jane wants to get ahead but knows there’s a cost, with her in effect serving as his de facto pimp when his latest conquest, a young woman straight off the bus from Idaho, shows up for a new job at the office.

It’s a strong showcase for Julia Garner, who’s made big waves in recent years thanks to her arcs on “The Americans” and “Ozark”. She’s meant to play the film in a cold, aloof way as she can’t act out emotionally lest she show her bosses what she thinks of them. She maintains our sympathy as she’s personable, even if despite her conscience she’s just another enabler.

This ambiguity is going to make THE ASSISTANT a tough sit for many, as its not a clear-cut narrative at all. In eighty-seven minutes, we follow Jane on a relatively mundane day, with us getting the sense that it’s no better or worse than a usual Monday and that the next day she’ll be asked to do things that are just as bad. Is she responsible? I’d wager she’s not, as the movie shows she’s merely a cog in a much larger machine, with Macfayden even telling her at one point that he’s got a stack of four hundred CV’s all eager to take the entry-level job she has. If she doesn’t do it, someone else will. She’s still an enabler, but the film doesn’t ask you to condemn her for that. This ambiguity will likely keep THE ASSISTANT from crossing over in a major way, although it’s certainly a fascinating companion piece to the trial that’s happening now and an important time capsule in some ways.

The Assistant

GOOD

7