The Assistant

The Assistant, released in 2019, is a forceful drama that delves into the deeply troubling culture of workplace harassment and systemic oppression that pervades certain workplaces. This film intricately examines the media industry but in a more universal manner, addresses the contemporary workplace as a whole. The Pathé commissioned movie is the brainchild of director Kitty Green who makes a brave move by shifting away from her documentary roots to produce her first narrative feature.

The movie follows the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate who manages to land a seemingly prestigious junior assistant position in a high-profile entertainment conglomerate in New York City. Garner's immersive performance magnificently imbues a hushed intensity and a lurking sense of vulnerability, which is equal parts riveting and heart-wrenching. Her character is the bridge between the audience and the troubling atmosphere that the movie hints at but never makes an explicit spectacle of. Owen Holland and Jon Orsini play the role of her co-workers who, despite appearing supportive on the surface, do little-to-nothing to alleviate the mounting tension and unspoken desolation Jane is subjected to on a daily basis.

The Assistant adopts an observational narrative style, often following Jane's routine, from her early morning commutes immersed in darkness to her late return home, thus emphasising on the unending and thankless nature of her job. Throughout the film, the viewer is made part of her professional world, one that is ironically in the glittering business of entertainment but is steeped in drudgery and a rigid power hierarchy.

One of the movie's unnerving aspects is the unseen, yet domineering presence of the boss, a high-profile entertainment mogul. He never physically appears on-screen, but his influence permeates through every crevice of the office, signifying the oppressive hold he has over his employees. Herein lie the film's critique of toxic workplace culture and systemic silence around it, a theme that resonates powerfully amidst the #MeToo era, and one that is sure to stimulate thoughtful conversations.

The attention given to minute details - the humdrum office tasks, the menial errands, the harsh strip lighting, and the claustrophobic office cubicles - contributes to a slow-building and simmering tension that establishes the oppressive feel of the movie. Director Kitty Green smartly places the viewer as an observer of oppression without resorting to dramatic clashes or overt demonstrations of power. One of the potent narrative tools in the movie is its delicate yet deafening silence, a tool which beautifully amplifies the sense of disquiet.

The film is purposefully understated, laden with quiet moments and brilliant subtleties. It is a sharp portrayal of the mundane relentlessness of corporate life, a chilling view into the lived realities of women in particular and employees in general in perilous power dynamics. In The Assistant, the rolling fog of tension is accompanied by intermittent moments of uncomfortable normalcy, a tactic employed to highlight the everyday nature of corporate complicity and its consequences.

While the film captures the grittier side of ambition and the paradoxes of the glamorous entertainment industry, an important theme explored is the consequence of unchecked power. The story underscores the concerning reality of workplace harassment, where abuse takes on the mask of mentorship and where ambition becomes a tool for manipulation. The film aptly reflects the shadowy corridors of the entertainment industry amid the global reckoning of #MeToo.

The Assistant is a film that says volumes through its silence and careful observation. With barely any dialogue and scenes of hopeless monotony, it manages to present audiences with a stark contemplation on the insidious toxicity of imbalanced power structures that enable abuse. The potency of the film lies not in any dramatic exposition of corruption, but in the silence that conceals it, the tolerance that perpetuates it, and the systemic complicity that enables it.

Overall, The Assistant is a compelling work of cinematic art that combines fantastic performances, particularly Julia Garner's, with a shrewdly restrained visual aesthetic. It takes viewers through an unforgiving ride into a world where ambition meets exploitation. This film is much more than just a drama—it is a sociocultural commentary on the insidious, power-fueled abuses that take place in the underbelly of the dream-making entertainment industry.