I have tried to focus my TIFF coverage on female-led stories and a perfect example of a film told from the female perspective is writer/director Niki Byrne’s THE JULIA SET. This film is Byrne’s first feature, but you wouldn’t know it from her assured direction and script. Featuring a phenomenal cast, led by Chase Infiniti, the film highlights the importance of believing in yourself and not allowing others to bring you down.
Julia (Infiniti) is a brilliant undergraduate mathematician who decides to go to a college close to home instead of some of the more prestigious schools she got into; she received financial support to attend the school and wants to remain close to her brother, who has Down’s syndrome. Pascal (Chris Briney), Julia’s teaching assistant, recognizes her potential and helps her get into a more advanced class, the goal of which is to receive a strong score on the national Putnam math test. A good score on that test can lead to more funding for the school and potentially a better financial scholarship to one of the top schools Julia got into. Of course, Pascal is also romantically drawn to Julia’s intelligence and starts to use Julia’s talent to benefit himself. It starts with copying her answers, but then morphs into something a lot more sinister, eventually threatening her participation in the Putnam. At first, Julia makes excuses for his behavior, but as the situation gets worse Julia has no more room to hide and has to confront the issue head on.
Part HIDDEN FIGURES, part GOOD WILL HUNTING, THE JULIA SET admittedly feels familiar and predictable; there are no huge surprises that are going to blow your mind. But that feeling of familiarity is the point of the movie—the story of a man taking credit for a woman’s work is unfortunately a tale as old as time. I do appreciate that this story focuses on a brilliant Black woman who not only has to deal with racism within her field, but on top of that, she has to deal with an increasingly manipulative boyfriend who tries to inhibit her intellect and ambitions. Of course, you will root for Julia to leave her toxic romance in the dust, but more than that, the film also makes you root for Julia’s goals outside of a man… her academic endeavors that have gotten her to where she is now and that will shape where she goes in the future. Byrne’s electric script also has some serious girl power moments (I’m looking at you Gillian Anderson) that will make you cheer from your seat (or at least that’s what I did).
Chase Infiniti is becoming one of my favorite actors of her age group. She is extremely charismatic with a natural talent that makes her magnetic to watch whenever she’s onscreen. Infiniti also has an uncanny ability to play a sort of “every woman,” someone that you can imagine going to high school with. And in this film, she gives Matt Damon a run for his money in portraying a believable genius. Chris Briney, on the other hand does an almost too good a job playing one of the most despicable characters I’ve seen in a long time. At best, his character is a whiney man-child and at worst, he’s a gaslighting monster. I do wish the script had made his villainy a little less obvious because, especially by the end, it felt a little over-the-top. A big part of what makes abuse so insidious is the ability to keep things under the radar enough that the victim worries they’re the one overreacting… but by the end, he is so terrible, it makes it a lot easier for Julia to leave him. I would have loved to see her leave him for doing a lot less.
Although THE JULIA SET is not saying anything particularly new and exciting, it’s an entertaining film that is going to keep you hooked from start to finish thanks to an engaging script and phenomenal cast. It highlights an important message that hopefully young people (especially young women) can take away—not dimming your light for another person. I’m excited to see what Byrne has next up her sleeve because if she can make math seem exciting, there’s nothing she can’t do.
My Review: B
