“The Assistant” (2020) is a scary movie about someone who is 2 months into a company. She is an assistant. Whoa, imagine being an assistant. A junior assistant, yet still. Wonder how that must feel like. The junior assistant (Julia Garner) has to live a boring life in a mostly male environment. It’s pretty obvious that she is new, skilled, and a bit scared, or nauseated by the other assistants who work there. I think I caught a poster of The New York Post somewhere along the way.
I didn’t catch the name of the character played by Julia Garner, so I will use the word she/her to mention her most of the time. So when I mention the 2 male co-workers, or co-assistants, I will use the word they/them. Or everyone for everyone in the office in general.
And then there is the ‘he’. Yes, the ‘he’. I think the word ‘he’ is uttered every 5 seconds. The ‘he’ is sometimes on the call, and you can hear ‘his’ voice blowing down from the telephone. The ‘he’ is invisible but I know you can feel him. It’s not that hard. The ‘he’ is walking here and there demanding prostitutes while she, the assistant, shows them the way. The ‘he’ is scary indeed, yet sometimes we never know that ‘he’ exists.
I actually thought the assistant was a janitor at first. A janitor assistant, now that would make a fun movie. There is a scene where a call comes in, the 2 male junior assistants (Jon Orsini), (Noah Robbins), take it and say some formal greeting, while listening in on what the people on the other side are saying, while laughing at each and every comment.
“The Assistant” starts off by showing her making coffee, wiping floors, printing papers. Her life is boring throughout the movie, as far as I can tell. Day and night, she’s living in the company. It’s as if she is living in the company. She has an invisible home. She lives there, and I don’t think she has a social life. She barely has time to make contact with her parents. And if you thought the movie started that way, it’s the same physically at the end but mentally it gets worse. She should just quit and get a new job. It’s apparent what she should do.
Suddenly, a new junior assistant (Kristine Froseth) comes in. She drops her off in a hotel. Oh yeah, the new junior assistant is female. And young. She is clueless about the job, so wonder how she got the job. Oh yeah, by being a sexual slave to the boss, a prostitute.
She feels pity on the young prostitute. She tries to file a report against her boss. She goes to the building next to her, the HR building. Because she dropped the new junior assistant off at a hotel, and suddenly finds out that her boss is missing for hours. She initially tried to put all of that in words, but fails. The HR manager (David Matthew Macfadyen) seems interested, yet after every few minutes, he stops and asks her “So where were we?” Either the HR manager has a memory issue or epilepsy, or is secretly working for the boss. My vote is for the second, because she gets a call from the boss right after. The entire conversation between the HR manager and the assistant can give a great summary about the movie, so I am not going to describe the conversation.
The movie is quite unique in that we have to guess everything mostly from the minor dialogue (visual or quotes), or the way Julia Garner acts in front of others and the others act in front of her. The directing by first time director (Kitty Green) is really great as well. She manages to convince us into believing what is happening by mere gestures.
And I don’t have to tell you how remarkable the acting of Julia Garner is. She was prime in her well thought acting. I am currently watching a TV show called OZARK which has her in one of the lead roles. She does a fantastic job on that as well.
The Assistant is a definite 3.5/4 recommend.
Suddenly, a new junior assistant (Kristine Froseth) comes in. She drops her off in a hotel. Oh yeah, the new junior assistant is female. And young. She is clueless about the job, so wonder how she got the job. Oh yeah, by being a sexual slave to the boss, a prostitute.
She feels pity on the young prostitute. She tries to file a report against her boss. She goes to the building next to her, the HR building. Because she dropped the new junior assistant off at a hotel, and suddenly finds out that her boss is missing for hours. She initially tried to put all of that in words, but fails. The HR manager (David Matthew Macfadyen) seems interested, yet after every few minutes, he stops and asks her “So where were we?” Either the HR manager has a memory issue or epilepsy, or is secretly working for the boss. My vote is for the second, because she gets a call from the boss right after. The entire conversation between the HR manager and the assistant can give a great summary about the movie, so I am not going to describe the conversation.
The movie is quite unique in that we have to guess everything mostly from the minor dialogue (visual or quotes), or the way Julia Garner acts in front of others and the others act in front of her. The directing by first time director (Kitty Green) is really great as well. She manages to convince us into believing what is happening by mere gestures.
And I don’t have to tell you how remarkable the acting of Julia Garner is. She was prime in her well thought acting. I am currently watching a TV show called OZARK which has her in one of the lead roles. She does a fantastic job on that as well.
The Assistant is a definite 3.5/4 recommend.
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