The Assistant (Kitty Green, 2019)

by Elena Lazic

Considering how topical this film was at the time of release and remains today — showing the bullying and silencing of a young woman working for a powerful film producer, clearly based on Harvey Weinstein — I am sure there have been tons of writing on the dynamics it explores, namely the way a constant deferral of responsibility and a generalised subjugation of women within a company work hand in hand to maintain a dangerous status quo. I don’t think we need a film to understand how a vulnerable person working in these conditions could stay silent about the abuse they’ve witnessed (at least, I hope we don’t), but in any case, The Assistant does a remarkably subtle and convincing job of showing how a person can work very closely with someone yet have practically no way to stop them or to truly intervene in their activities.