THE STORY – Julia, a gifted mathematician, navigates the cutthroat world of academia. Pascal, a teaching assistant, recruits her to join an exclusive training program for the prestigious and notoriously difficult Putnam mathematics competition.
THE CAST – Chase Infiniti, Christopher Briney, Nina Hoss, Carmen Ejogo, Chloe Bailey, Nico Hiraga, Liz Lin, Alex Dillard, Jason Isaacs & Gillian Anderson
THE TEAM – Niki Byrne (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 112 Minutes
College marks a fascinating time for students to figure out, or at least attempt to figure out, who they want to be in this world. The choices made through high school all but feel small in comparison to the decisions made on a college campus, that will surely follow you the rest of your life. It’s the time to think about what you like, who you like, and most importantly, if the thousands of dollars you’re dropping into your education will even benefit you in the long run. For Chase Infiniti’s Julia, the protagonist of Niki Byrne’s directorial debut “The Julia Set,” it’s not that she doesn’t know what she likes; it’s more so whether she’s ever going to tell the world that she’s exceptional at it.
Julia is an exceptional student, brimming with talent, specializing in the complex field of mathematics, and constantly jotting down endless equations. There’s enough talent there that she instantly captures the eye of her teacher’s aide, Pascal, played by Christopher Briney, who recommends her to be a part of a prestigious study group led by the demanding professor played by Nina Hoss. Julia and the other students go through rigorous training, hoping to succeed on The Putnam Exam, a beast of an assessment that could put Julia on the path to MIT, which she has always dreamed of.
Byrne’s vision for “The Julia Set,” which primarily plays out like a typical coming-of-age film, doesn’t intend to throw audiences off the familiar path that’s so comforting to follow. It’s a more-than-familiar trail, yet even for a debut, Byrne somehow steps off the trail. This is amplified by the increasingly absurd expansion of Pascal’s role in the narrative, as his blossoming relationship with Julia fuels Byrne’s desire to thematically turn this into a powerful tale of finding one’s voice. Audiences see her as a semi-reclusive student wholly committed to her education, far removed from the typical experiences of most college students.
Infiniti’s performance captures this struggle, speaking volumes in the silence and perfectly embodying how this self-imposed sentence of avoiding attention comes at a cost, especially when adjusting to a space that has rarely afforded opportunities to people of her background. Her steady work makes the most of Byrne’s one-note screenplay, clearly fascinated with how Julia is affected by Pascal’s destructive persona. Pascal, on paper, is an intriguing character, someone on whom the pressures of greatness weigh heavily and who takes out his frustrations on amphetamines and any flat surface he can put his fist through.
Briney’s performance, which begins with some sort of subtlety through the slightest signs of repeated rage, balloons into a cartoonishly over-the-top antagonist who goes out of his way to make you root against him. It’s laughable not only how distracting he is every time he’s on screen, but how much this character drags down everything Byrne is trying to build here with “The Julia Set.” At times, her screenwriting comes off as implausible, both in how these characters interact and in how she circles serious topics without saying anything meaningful.
A dynamic that plays into the film is Julia’s Blackness in a predominantly white, male-oriented field, yet Byrne’s curiosity is simplistic, almost to the point of nonexistence. Julia is never afforded the same opportunities nor the benefit of the doubt, as shown by characters like Pascal’s father, a renowned mathematician (played by Jason Isaacs) whose vitriolic snobbery pours out of him like the wine he serves at dinner. It’s danced around besides a scene or two, yet Byrne expects viewers to pick up on something the film has little interest in. At least Isaacs and Gillian Anderson’s performances help sell the tough position a character like Julia has to navigate.
Anderson, who plays Pascal’s mother, finds herself in a somewhat similar position as Julia. She’s a once great mind whose relationship with her partner forced her to live in the shadow of his greatness, or more so suppress hers. It builds to a satisfying conclusion, but the road to get there is laborious to witness. “The Julia Set” isn’t dazzling in any technical manner. Byrne’s direction is fine, but it never rises above an incredibly tense sequence involving a chess match between Isaacs and Briney that is essential, where the movie peaks before becoming unintentionally hilarious till it’s traditional conclusion.
