The Julia Set, above anything else, cements Chase Infiniti as an absolutely captivating leading lady.
Written by Andie Kaiser
The Julia Set, above anything else, cements Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another) as an absolutely captivating leading lady. As writer-director Niki Byrne explained in the Q&A following the film’s world premiere, this is a story that rests fully on Infiniti’s shoulders, and that (I’m paraphrasing here) the audience has to be more interested in watching her think than in hearing anybody else speak. In this regard, the film certainly succeeds. Infiniti is wonderful in every moment as Julia, a gifted math student who is attending university and begins studying for the infamous Putnam test.
And while Infiniti is certainly the driving force behind the film, she is also supported by a strong cast that includes Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Nina Hoss (Phoenix), Chlöe Bailey (The Last Holiday), and the scene-stealing duo of Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) and Jason Isaacs (The Harry Potter Franchise). Unfortunately, even the strongest performances can’t save some of the film’s characters from overwriting, as we watch those around Julia become at times more caricatures than believable people. That being said, this remains a promising feature debut from Byrne that will likely speak to those who have ever felt overlooked — in the context of math or otherwise.
Julia, played beautifully by Infiniti, is identified to the audience as a very intelligent student from the beginning of the film. Despite this fact, she is underestimated by her peers and professors at every turn, and has learned to keep her abilities quiet as a result. Her family life, which includes financial struggles and her relationship with her disabled brother, has also led her to feel that her talents should not be spotlighted.
Very early on, Julia becomes entangled in a relationship with her TA Pascal (Briney), the son of a famous mathematician who himself is a prodigy studying for the Putnam test. Alongside Pascal, Julia enters the realm of elite mathematics, earning herself a spot studying under Dr. Zatlan (Hoss). While the film finds its strength following Julia's efforts in academics and coming-of-age more generally, much of the succeeding tension and drama is sought out through the landscape of her and Pascal's burgeoning relationship. Julia, being shy and inexperienced, is unsure of how to conduct herself in this new territory, and Infiniti's performance in this regard is balanced and endearing.
What soon becomes clear, at least to audiences, is that Pascal is the worst kind of “boyfriend.” He quickly moves from being someone who appears jealous of her abilities to being downright abusive. He suggests that Julia is distracting him from his full potential, and that she has only achieved anything because of her proximity to him. While some may find Briney’s performance as the now-villainous Pascal over the top, I seemed to think that he was doing the best he could given the material. Unfortunately, Pascal simply emerges as a character that is so irredeemable that the film really becomes something else entirely. At no point does he show remorse, despite being given multiple (too many, in my opinion) opportunities to, and we begin to lose sight of the fact that this was meant to be a film about Julia and not about Pascal. There are, of course, certainly lots of Pascals out there, which is seemingly one of the film’s theses, but the focus on his villainy and not on Julia's own inner life under these circumstances undermines our protagonist's ability to be anything other than his horribly mistreated girlfriend.
The one aspect of the Pascal situation that elevates the film into something more is moments that feature his parents (Anderson and Isaacs). There are a couple of standout scenes during the weekend where Pascal brings Julia to meet his family, particularly the dinner and chess sequences, which are truly edge-of-your-seat moments. They also thankfully bring the conversations back to larger themes of misogyny, opportunity, and the price of sharing a space with someone who is deemed a prodigy without ever having to prove themselves. The parallel between Anderson's character (as Pascal’s mother) and Julia provides one of the more interesting dynamics within the film, but as touching as their relationship turns out to be, it again feels just a bit too simple. It was shocking to me that Pascal’s physical assault of Julia is never touched upon again by anyone, including his mother, who is seemingly the only person in his orbit who sees the truth of who he is. And although there is a powerful monologue from Anderson that will likely succeed in moving audiences near the end of the film, we are left feeling as though she is given a large moment that should have been Julia's alone.
The film ultimately seemed more interested in gesturing at larger themes such as racism, misogyny, class, and abuse within relationships than in fully exploring them. Where there could have been impactful commentary on the way that these issues impact someone like Julia, I was left feeling like the script did not take seriously the very real things it found itself representing. It felt unclear whether the film wanted to be a relationship-driven story, or one that really looked at Julia's life as a whole, and I was left wishing that it had made up its mind to just focus on the latter.
Despite these criticisms, I was still moved by several moments in the film, not least because of Infiniti's commitment to portraying this character with the nuance and feeling that some of the writing lacked. Overall, I think this will still be a film that many can connect to, and for what it’s worth, the audience at TIFF responded heartily to each beat in the story. It may fall into the streaming territory, but I feel confident that it’s capable of enjoying a solid afterlife for many, and I'm hopeful that Infiniti will continue to be given the flowers that she so deserves.
Photo: TIFF
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