The Assistant

The sentencing of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein casts a long shadow over this quietly powerful fiction, in which an assistant (Julia Garner) at a New York film house performs tasks for her boss that go beyond secretarial. Written and directed by Kitty Green (Casting JonBenet), the film alludes to abuse by a heard-but-not-seen CEO (referred to only as "He" or "Him"), and artfully conjures an office atmosphere that's in the grip of a fear-driven code of silence. Matthew Macfadyen steals a knockout scene in HR, while the bigger picture is exquisitely compiled from furtive exchanges, email apologies, rattling health shakes and disingenuous calls home to Mom and Dad. Although Green's observations can feel oddly coy in the wake of the #MeToo movement, The Assistant cannot help but resonate at a time when Hollywood is finally confronting its long-ignored problems.