The state of the American worker is a key driver of our politics at the moment. The wish for relief has led to the rise of populist politics and politicians, all with the hope of radical changes to improve the experiences and financial realities of people across the country. This hasn’t been reflected much on the big screen until now. The Assistant takes into the life of Jane (Julia Garner), an aspiring film producer who has begun her climb up the ladder in the film world as the personal assistant to a powerful independent studio mogul. As Jane goes about making coffee, copies of paper, ordering lunch, arranging travel, and taking phone messages, she becomes aware of not just her own shoddy treatment, but how her boss takes advantage of other young women. As she gradually becomes worn down and disillusioned, Jane decides to take a stand.
Press surrounding the release of The Assistant has focused mostly on the its examination of the nature of sexual harassment and its effect on women in the workplace, and while that is an important issue covered in the film, I found its depiction of American corporate workplace abuse and culture in general to be intertwined with as effectively executed. As her name suggests, Jane serves as a stand-in for the typical woman in the workplace, but her experience also speaks for what many of us experience in the post-Gordon Gekko, Ronald Reagan office environment. The film begins with an extended look at how isolated Jane is as the new junior hire, embarking upon the thankless slog awaiting an assistant, in an empty office both early in the morning and after work hours. As the lowly personal assistant, Jane experiences a substantial amount of invisibility with her work disregarded and unnoticed, only raising the interest of her boss and coworkers when she’s displeased them for some minor transgression.
The invisibility she experiences serves as another parallel with The Assistant’s examination of her workplace experiences as a woman, with the dismissive way she’s treated as a young worker mirroring how women and their sexual harassment are treated and viewed. Following a shady but plausibly deniable hire of an inexperienced young woman from halfway across the country for a newly created assistant’s job that sees her staying in a fancy hotel where Jane’s boss disappears to for hours at a time, Jane decides to report the suspicious situation the company’s male HR manager Wilcock (Matthew Macfadyen). He effectively gaslights her report of the activity and subtly warns her that filing the report would only serve to torpedo her career before it even gets started and finishes by acknowledging her boss’ behavior, but attempting to assuage it by reassuring her she doesn’t have to worry personally because she “isn’t his type.” All of these experiences combine to paint a picture of a modern American work culture that devalues the average worker, viewing them as replaceable and their work as unessential. As wages remain stagnant, benefits steadily dwindle, pensions disappear, and demand on workers’ time rise with the advent of technology that makes them available 24/7, the feelings of defeat and hopelessness that workers nationwide feel are well reflected in this film.
Julia Garner offers an understated yet impactful performance as Jane, displaying the quiet indignity of working in an environment that doesn’t recognize your worth. The subtlety demanded in displaying how so many are forced to suffer in silence could be a tough lift but Garner effectively hits all the right notes. Director Kitty Green uses her debut feature to effectively takes into the world of the modern office employee creating a hushed story that displays how working a job that undervalues you slowly drags you down, making you feel trapped yet unable to fight it or turn to anyone for help and instead forcing you to suffer in silence. The previously mentioned HR scene is an effect use of seat-shifting discomfort and tension, forcing the viewer to empathize with and feel the very discomfort Jane felt in the moment. She also employs a distinct visual style full of overhead and wide shots that fully escorts us into Jane’s world and life. While very understated, Green has succeeded in crafting a story that explores a very topical and widespread issue that isn’t covered on film very often. The Assistant announces the arrivals of both Garner and Green loudly and clearly.
Image: Bleeker Street
