Berlinale Blogger 2020
The Assistant’s #MeToo dramas couldn’t be timelier

The first fictional feature by Australian filmmaker Kitty Green (Casting JonBenet) takes inspiration from an obvious source — and an important, timely topic.

By Sarah Ward

Premiering at last year’s Telluride Film Festival before making its international debut at this year’s Berlinale, The Assistant was always going to tie in with current news headlines. Its focus: recent college graduate-turned-entry-level film production company assistant Jane (Julia Garner), and one of her routine days working for a hotshot executive. Said head honcho isn’t named nor even ever seen, but he has considerable standing in the industry. He also possesses a callous temper, and a penchant for private couch sessions with wannabe actresses — when he’s not hiring pretty young faces straight from their small-town waitressing jobs and putting them up in hotels.

The Obvious Shadow

It’s pure coincidence that The Assistant screened in Berlin the same week that the verdict was handed down in Harvey Weinstein’s New York trial. But ever since allegations against the former movie mogul first broke in October 2017, a film on the topic has always been inevitable. Many others will no doubt follow, including some that blatantly sift through the exact details. Regardless, Kitty Green’s unnerving drama — the Australian filmmaker’s first fictional feature after excellent documentaries Ukraine Is Not a Brothel and Casting JonBenet — is a worthy contender to lead the on-screen #MeToo charge. The narrative, as scripted by Green, could’ve been lifted straight from the reams of articles devoted to Weinstein’s toxic behaviour in recent years — as an executive in general, and with women. The first to arrive and the last staffer to leave for the day, Jane makes coffee, orders lunches, keeps the copier stocked with paper, empties garbage, cleans dishes, answers the constantly ringing phone, balances cheque books and organises her boss’ schedule, all while remaining at his beck and call and weathering the patronising attitudes of her colleagues. She bears the brunt of her employer’s rage and impetuousness when, after fielding a call from his wife, he’s fiercely unhappy with her sensitive handling of the situation. Jane also bears witness as an array of attractive women visit the office, eventually leading her to voice her concerns.

Equally Realistic And Scathing

Already this year, Bombshell has explored a high-profile, entertainment-based sexual harassment scandal — but while it shares the same broad subject matter, The Assistant couldn’t be a more different film. What works so brutally and effectively here is Green’s commitment to realism, even in such obviously dramatic confines. Julia’s world is cloaked in shades of corporate grey, her tasks couldn’t be more menial and, for much of its running time, the movie’s frames are filled with everyday minutiae. Indeed, The Assistant looks and feels like it could be peering into any office and chronicling any assistant’s ordinary experiences. And, it is. Everything about Jane’s working life proves familiar and standard, because it has all happened countless times before — including the normalisation of sexually predatory behaviour by a powerful, celebrated, virtually invincible man.
 
Accordingly, The Assistant pairs its oh-so-commonplace details with an overwhelmingly insidious mood, and never lets the tension and terror slip. That the horrors surrounding Jane are happily accepted by her complicit co-workers — and that Jane is rendered the outlier for thinking that’s something wrong — adds a further, deeper layer of unease. So too does Green’s relentlessly matter-of-fact approach, exposing what’s lurking in plain sight rather than delving into sordid specifics. As anchored compellingly by Garner’s naturalistic performance, this is a deliberate, damning and devastating response to the reality that not only gave rise to the #MeToo movement, but has lingered in full view for far too long.