Julia Garner’s dominance is undeniable, as if we’re all mere spectators in her realm. Her recent scheduling freedom from hit TV shows like “Ozark” and the miniseries “Inventing Anna” over the past two years has allowed her to return to headlining movies once more. This shift has landed her leading roles in two highly anticipated summer 2025 films: In “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” she portrayed Shalla-Bal/The Silver Surfer, and in Zach Cregger’s new horror movie “Weapons” (similar to “Barbarian”), she stars as embattled teacher Justine Gandy.
Over these movies, particularly standing out with the remarkable “Weapons”, Garner garnered broad appreciation, extending the chain of critical acclaim she earned from “Ozark” and “Inventing Anna”. Yet, the essence of her most remarkable film performances was set at the start of the decade, in a 2020 masterwork titled “The Assistant”.
What Is Kitty Green’s The Assistant?
Kitty Green, the filmmaker behind “The Assistant,” didn’t originally plan to create a stark commentary on the pervasive toxicity in the film industry. Her initial focus was on a young woman dealing with persistent misogyny and sexual harassment within a college setting. However, the flood of allegations against Harvey Weinstein prompted her to alter her direction. Now, the movie delves into the experiences of a female employee working under an unnamed character representing Weinstein. This background story poignantly illustrates how misogyny and abusive behavior are often accepted as the norm in numerous workplaces, from college campuses to film studios, demonstrating their alarming persistence.
In this intense setting is where we find Julia Garner’s character, Jane, from the film “The Assistant”. The story, penned by Kitty Green, focuses on a single day in Jane’s life as she carries out her junior assistant duties at a production company. Despite her attempts to maintain a quiet and compliant demeanor, this job is gradually eroding her mental wellbeing. In “The Assistant”, viewers are shown the consequences rather than the acts of horror that Jane’s boss is committing. This approach effectively immerses us into Jane’s thoughts and feelings. Similar to Jane, we don’t directly witness the unimaginable, but we know it’s happening just out of sight behind her.
Garner delivers an outstanding performance as Jane, a troubled character, in the film Green. Contrary to expectations, this movie isn’t filled with dramatic speeches or overt examples of workplace toxicity. Instead, it subtly explores the insidious nature of misogyny and dehumanizing work environments. Garner excels in this subtle approach, conveying immense emotional turmoil even when she merely looks sad. The emotions she portrays may be repressed, but Garner manages to make them feel incredibly real.
The Assistant Shaped Garner’s Big Movie Roles
In the film “The Assistant,” Julia Garner demonstrates a remarkable talent for delivering powerful performances through understated acting. For example, during her emotionally charged scene with HR department head Wilcock, played by Matthew Macfadyen, Garner skillfully evokes deep empathy as Jane uncovers the deceptive nature of the company’s support systems for employees.
Later in the movie, when Jane is surrounded by her male colleagues who suggest what to write in an apology letter to her abusive boss, Garner once again shines, conveying a sense of despair and broken spirit through subtle cues and nuanced physicality, even amidst more boisterous male co-stars.
Extracting immense impact from minimally adorned content was a talent that Garner would later utilize in her expensive summer 2025 blockbusters. For example, in the comic book adaptation, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Shalla-Bal is not a loquacious alien. Instead, her powerful phrases like “I herald your doom” convey strength with few words. Similarly, in Weapons, Garner’s character Justine Gandy, portrays a poignant, dialogue-free scene of vulnerability when she waits in her car at night, cautiously approaching her front door. This skill was perfected by Garner during her work on the film The Assistant.
In her performance in “Weapons,” her physicality is strikingly reminiscent of how Julia Garner masterfully portrayed the art of deriving maximum impact from a person’s walk in “The Assistant.” It’s intriguing to note that these big-studio productions from summer 2025 echo the essence of one of the standout independent films of the early 2020s. Yet, even if those genre features weren’t around, Garner’s exceptional performance in “The Assistant” would still be worthy of high praise. It serves as a captivating centerpiece for a gripping (though subtly heart-wrenching) drama that should undoubtedly attract more attention, given our current immersion in Julia Garner’s acting world.
The Assistant is now streaming on Hulu.
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2025-08-08 00:42