The Assistant

6.2

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Original title: The Assistant
Year: 2019
Running time: 81 min.
Country: United States
Director: Kitty Green
Screenwriter: Kitty Green
Music: Tamar-Kali Brown
Cinematography: Michael Latham
Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Julia Garner, Dagmara Dominczyk, Kristine Froseth, Mackenzie Leigh, Juliana Canfield, Noah Robbins, Alexander Chaplin, Purva Bedi, Lou Martini Jr., Migs Govea, Bregje Heinen, Fang Du, Daoud Heidami, Jonny Orsini, Sophie Knapp, Liz Wisan, Rory Kulz, Stéphanye Dussud, Nemuna Ceesay, Andrew Hsu, Ben Maters, Devon Caraway
Producer: 3311 Productions, Cinereach, Forensic Films (Distributor: Bleecker Street)
Genre: Drama | Job/Employment. Sexual Abuse
Synopsis / Plot: Jane (Julia Garner) is 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 workday, 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.

Awards: 2020: Independent Spirit Awards: Nominated for Best First Screenplay, Actress & Cinematography

2020: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: Nominated for Best Actress (Garner)

2020: Gotham Awards: Nominated for Best Feature

Critics' reviews

"Harvey Weinstein doesn’t appear in 'The Assistant,' and nobody mentions him by name, but make no mistake (...) a significant cultural statement in cinematic form"

Eric Kohn: IndieWire
"Green (...) adopts a style of low-key minimalism that throws the magnitude of what she’s showing us into stark relief (...) The silence of this movie is devastating"

Justin Chang: Los Angeles Times
"An exasperatingly low-key look at gender dynamics in the workplace (...) Green’s film feels so restrained, you’d think she was afraid of being sued for slander."

Peter Debruge: Variety
"A potent provocation that stands as a defining snapshot of the MeToo era (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"'The Assistant' Is the first great movie about Me Too (...) [It] shares an understanding that the man himself is less psychologically interesting than the people around him"

Alison Willmore: Vulture
"[It] maintains an intriguing and well managed tension, and the film’s exacting evocation of a very particular time (...) will stir the interest of industry members (...) A more general public, however, will likely find Green’s approach dry and too restrained."

Todd McCarthy: The Hollywood Reporter
"A diagnostic view of a reign of terror"

Richard Brody: The New Yorker
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