You will not hear the name Harvey Weinstein being said at any point in the film, but The Assistant on Hulu will surely make you think of the infamous Hollywood film producer.
What is this movie about?
The Assistant follows the story of a day in the life of Jane, a young female assistant at a film production company. This is a company where the boss is a sex predator, a company where there exists a culture of sexual harrassment and nobody does anything about it. When Jane does muster up the courage to report it, she is shouted at by her boss, who is clearly informed about the complaint against him, and does not take it well.
Jane’s day-to-day work is nothing extraordinary; making coffee for the boss, answering phone calls, printing out scripts, box office receipts, headshots of actresses, pretty much what any assistant’s job is. The movie is a slow burn, there aren’t any twists and turns in the film. It is just deep, shocking revelations about a culture of sexual harrassment in the workplace that has been normalized to such an extent that it affects nobody, not even the Human Resource department, who take no heed when Jane decides to speak up against the events that happen in the boss’s office on a regular basis. Instead, Jane is shouted at by her boss for trying to interfere in his personal life.
Cast, direction, and other details
The movie stars Julia Garner in the titular role as the assistant, Jane. The film is helmed by Kitty Green, and opened at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2019. The Assistant draws a stark parallelism with the culture of sexual harrassment that manifested for so long in Hollywood, and the workplace, in general. The movie never mentions the name Harvey Weinstein, but after you’ve watched the film in its entirety, that name is probably the one that will be on your mind.