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The Assistant film: #MeToo drama inspired by Harvey Weinstein scandal release date, reviews and trailer

The Assistant – a new drama inspired by the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal – is already shaping up to be one of the most powerful films of the year.

Directed by Kitty Green, the film takes a look at workplace harassment, toxicity and bullying, starring Julia Garner as Jane, an assistant working at a film production company.

The film explores the idea of complicity, with viewers observing implied sexual misconduct and abuse through the eyes of a new employee in a toxic workplace.

The movie’s appearance at the Berlin Film Festival this week feels particularly timely, with once-powerful movie mogul Weinstein now facing up to 25 years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault and third-degree rape in a landmark trial in New York.

While the film is not based solely on one case, it has its roots firmly in reality. Green researched the film by interviewing former assistants who previously worked for production companies in the US, including Weinstein’s Miramax and the Weinstein Company.

Trailer

The film’s trailer focuses on Garner’s assistant Jane in a meeting with HR manager Wilcock, played by Matthew Macfadyen.

The clip then shows Jane’s growing concern during her everyday and otherwise mundane role. We see her being patronised and criticised by her male co-workers, as well as performing tasks like opening boxes of bottled water and cleaning meeting rooms.

She soon grows suspicious of her boss – the omnipotent but unseen figure running the company. She is tasked with organising shady meetings in hotel rooms, before witnessing young women signing legal contracts and overhearing her co-workers warning to “never sit on the couch”.

We then see Jane registering a complaint with HR, asking the question: “What can we do?”

“About what?” Wilcock replies.

Cast and director

Dynamic duo: Kitty Green and Julia Garner (Getty Images)
Dynamic duo: Kitty Green and Julia Garner (Getty Images)

Australian filmmaker Green writes and directs The Assistant. She was previously best known for her work on documentaries, including Casting JonBenet and Ukraine is Not a Brothel but this is her first feature film.

Garner, who stars as Jane, has previously appeared in the TV series Ozark, Dirty John and Maniac, as well as the films We Are What We Are, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. The cast also includes Macfadyen, Makenzie Leigh, Kristine Froseth and Bregje Heinen.

Reviews

The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw is among the critics to praise the film. Writing in his four-star review, he called the film “a sombre, realist study of what day-by-day, moment-by-moment abuse actually looks like.”

The Los Angeles Times also approved of the film and its timely message. “Few things are more difficult for narrative features than creating a compelling scenario out of current events,” critic Kenneth Turan wrote, “but writer-director Kitty Green, with a big assist from star Julia Garner, has made it happen.”

“The Assistant is less bombastic than you might expect, and that is all to the good,” Turan added.

While Variety argued that films like The Assistant are absolutely necessary, it argued that the movie doesn’t go far enough in delivering its message. “The world needs movies like this, but it needs for them to be dynamic, dramatic and more empowering overall,” wrote critic Peter Debruge.

“Green’s film feels so restrained, you’d think she was afraid of being sued for slander,” he added.

Release date

The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August last year. It was released in the US in January, but will arrive in the UK on April 3.