“I was just a button hanging by a thread that no one was willing to sew back on again.” So we’re introduced to Joseph, freshly fired from a menial job and stepping into a world that doesn’t want him. His fortunes seemingly reverse when he’s brought into the employ of Mr. Tobler, an inventor whose no-nonsense protocol sets in motion this riveting character drama from Wilhelm and Anka Sasnal, adapted from a 1908 Robert Walser novel. Buoyed by a star-making turn from Piotr Trojan, stunning pastoral locations, lush cinematography, a transfixing electronic score (to say nothing of its expertly deployed Smiths cue), and supreme fashion sense, The Assistant is a visually and sonically opulent film about the bonds that constrain us all.