If you watched this movie on based on the trailer, you're going to be disappointed.

A very bleak and realistic look at corporate culture and abuse of power in the movie industry and how it is normalized. The movie takes its time establishing itself and is presented as a more grounded look at the subject matter rather than an overly-dramatized movie version of reality. This works to the movie's benefit in my opinion, as it makes the events of the film more disturbing and real to the viewer. Great performances in the film reinforce the realistic nature of the presentation and make for a unique viewing experience.

The Assistant was one of the movies I was most excited to see at Sundance.

I went in with the wrong expectations however, as the trailer and synopsis both seem to be selling it in a different light than what this was.

Julia Garner does a great job playing an assistant that grows increasingly aware of the situation she's working in. The movie takes place over a single day, but this is where it starts to lose me.

Typically slice of life movies are my thing, but something about The Assistant just really didn't deliver. I left the movie wanting a lot more than what I got, and about 2/3rds of the way through it really started to feel like it was dragging on. Even with a runtime of 85 minutes.

Overall, I think you could go in with the right expectations and you might enjoy it, but I'd have a hard time recommending people take the time out of their day to see it.

Foregoes sensationalism for the minutia of reality and the film is all the better for it. Julia Garner gives a great, understated performance in this saddening story of male power.

Those without patience need not apply. Those who do will be rewarded.

Not even worth watching in quarantine.

I absolutely love Julia Garner, but I'm sad to say I found this a bit boring :(

The invisible boss. The daily routine that has a sexist background. The soundtrack is the noise of the photocopier. It is a strange, silent film, like the protagonist. But step by step, she develops her own language that has a dark envelope. The office is the habitat of a sexual predator. It is the despotic Weinstein universe without naming it ("never sit on the couch"). It is the dirtiest side of the cinema.

Like watching paint dry. Go and watch a secretary irl for 90 minutes.

I really wanted to like this movie but in the end it was just mundane. I wish there was a bigger impact to catch and prosecute all the "Harvey Weinstein" out there. But in the end this movie was unfulfilling.

Who should I send an invoice to ? I felt like I just did a 12 hour shift with her... Please, just take an extra shift instead of watching this, you at least get paid for it.

Julia Garner is perfect for this role.

A movie about how powerful men control their subordinates and manipulate them into doing downright horrible creepy things.

Everyone here is guilty by association. No one is naive or innocent. Just looking out for themselves and their jobs.

Subtle. A solid turn by Julia Garner. An insight into life at the office of a bad guy where his behaviour is accepted and tolerated by all. Systemically overlooked as everyone has their own agenda and careers to think of.

It doesn't punch home the extent of the misuse of power. It doesn't flesh out where this all ends. It struggles to make any point of real worth with all of the subtle flags being laid.

It feels like part 1 of a 3 part TV miniseries.

I applaud the lead actress. But this is an under-cooked film.


5/10

Wow. This is a masterclass in tension, atmosphere, sound design, script, and character acting. Julia Garner is wonderful. If you are looking for a raw, uncomfortable look into a young woman's life as a corporate assistant, this is your movie. I would call it dystopian, but dystopias are typically imagined or unreal societies, while this is all too real. Must see.

If you did a double feature with this and "Promising Young Woman", you'd lose all faith in the male race

I do also like how the cinematography kinda keeps everything at a dull color tone like its portraying a possible realistic hell for this position

The good news is that the film achieves exactly what it sets out to do. The story is about a day in the life of an assistant in the movie industry. The woman starts her day well before anyone else has come to the office and ends it after everyone other than her boss (who we never actually see). In the course of the day she is essentially a servant to the men (and sometimes the women, of whom there are few) in the office. She also gets a hint of the exploitation of young women.

The bad news is that what the movie has achieved isn't terribly watchable. Don't get me wrong - I am not looking for movies to be uplifting or have positive messages. It just isn't something that you're going to watch on a Saturday night as entertainment. The film needs to be dour to set the right tone but when you couple that with the slice-of-life storyline you won't get a great viewing experience.

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33 minutes in and nothing, literally nothing, has happened other than watching the most boring assistant job ever..... Time to 2x this thing.