The Assistant

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the subsequent #MeToo movement comes a suffocating new film by writer/director Kitty Green.

The Assistant stars Julia Garner (Ozark) as Jane, a young recent university graduate who has scored an entry-level job as an assistant to a high-powered New York film producer. During the course of her duties Jane begins to sense something isn’t write in the world around her.

The office is an eerie place devoid of much human interaction; the majority of the soundscape of the film comes from the ambient noises of scanners, printers, and murmured voices from behind meeting room doors.

Garner is excellent in this role. Conveying the emotional turmoil of Jane, even with very minimal lines of dialogue.

The Assistant is a gripping look into the hellish world of abuse, bullying, toxic masculinity and office politics.

★★★ ½