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User Reviews for: The Assistant

FallenArtemie
6/10  one year ago
I can see why people gave this a low score. This isn't a bad movie but it isn't exciting so I think the entertainment value for most people isn't there. I didn't see the trailer either, so idk what to expect. The first half feels like a mundane anxiety trip, like a polar opposite of Uncut Gems. The climatic scene is a scary representation of HR that was all too common in the past and is finally moving out of that stereotype. But sadly the 2nd half of the film is a soul crushing depression arc that feels all too familiar with young people trying to get a good job and having to deal with the toxicity of a bad boss, a ton of work, putting aside their morals, and co-workers who have become desensitized to the toxicity and continue to spread it even if they are being "nice". In that way, this is a despair movie, not an entertainment movie. Doubly so as there was a sense that women play 2nd fiddle in this company regardless of how smart or good they are at their job and the very subtle underlying tragedy of this office that I think is really well handled in how it was revealed to the audience. The performances by Julia Garner and Matthew Macfayden were great.
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Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots
/10  4 years ago
“The Assistant,” a timely story about abuse of power in the workplace, left me shaken and angry. This quietly devastating film about a young assistant (Julia Garner) to a prominent entertainment executive is inspired by the Me Too movement (and clearly, the bad actions of Harvey Weinstein). The story accurately portrays the weighty emotional toll that stems from knowing something isn’t quite right, but you are powerless to do anything about it.

Jane (Garner) is just starting out in her career. She puts in long hours at the New York office of a powerful film exec, and she takes continual emotional and verbal abuse from her boss (whom we never see). There’s nothing glamorous or rewarding about her job, but those around her give constant reminders that she is the lucky one simply because she is employed there. Jane is faced with hostile, degrading comments from almost everyone she comes in contact with, but she quietly goes about her business and tries her best to ignore it.

Writer / director Kitty Green chooses to center her methodical, orderly narrative around a female assistant, which makes the film all the more powerful. She uses point of view shots that make it feel as if you’re right there in the office, stepping directly into the character’s shoes. The story takes place over one day in a drab office as Jane begins to see a pattern of events that don’t add up. She’s someone who doesn’t quite know enough to have a clear, undeniable picture of what’s going on, yet she still knows something definitely isn’t quite right. It’s unsettling and effective, and it something to which young women (and some young men) everywhere will sadly relate.

When Jane tries to do the right thing, she’s stonewalled by a Hollywood culture where abuse is tolerated, joked about, and covered up — in other words, it’s accepted. She watches as her colleagues joke about these escapades while laughing off her concerns. An unhelpful HR director (the terrific Matthew Macfadyen) dismisses her complaints as “bullshit” and a product of “jealousy,” which is infuriating to watch because it feels so steeped in truth.

Even more disturbing is that while eyes have been opened thanks to the “Me Too” movement, this gross misconduct is still going on in offices all over the world. Newsflash to those working in the entertainment industry (and elsewhere): if you don’t speak up, or if you laugh about or shrug off bad behavior, you’re part of the problem. “The Assistant” is a sobering reminder that just because “that’s the way it is” doesn’t make it right.
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SWITCH.
/10  4 years ago
You'd be hard-pressed to find a film that moves with such unassuming intensity as 'The Assistant', a film that demands full attention from its audience to tell a frustratingly normalised story of frustrating normalised harassment. It's a quiet film brimming with power, one that is not to be missed.
- Ashley Teresa

Read Ashley's full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-assistant-meek-and-mad
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