The latter has earned raves for her turn as a math genius stuck under the thumb of an abusive boyfriend (and an academic system designed to ignore and exploit her).“Julia’s off-the-charts intelligence, which Infiniti embodies with exquisite conviction, changes the stakes of the movie; we’re rooting for her emotional salvation, but we’re also rooting for her to dazzle the universe with her talent,” wrote Variety’s Owen Gleiberman in his TIFF review.Indeed, Infiniti’s wide-eyed portrait of a prodigy is equal parts inspired and frustrating. Julia is recruited by a study group drilling for the Putnam Test — a six-hour math competition for undergraduates considered the most prestigious in the world. When Julia’s teacher’s assistant, Pascal (Christopher Briney), comes on hard and fast with romantic feelings, we watch Infiniti’s Julia struggle to balance blossoming romance with the obligation she has to her extraordinary gifts.Variety caught up with Byrne and Infiniti on the ground in Toronto this week, where the film premiered and is currently shopping for distribution Niki, you’ve had an interesting trajectory.
You were an aerial photographer and a licensed race car driver. How did we get to writer-director? Niki Byrne: Everything I’ve done makes sense in reverse.
I came back to California from Europe in 2018 and started working in L.A. I was writing quite a bit at that point, and I knew I wanted to write and direct. I took Martin Scorsese’s master class, where he said that if you’re going to be a director of any quality, you must take acting classes.
So, I did and found it super valuable. I’ve worked in almost every department on a film set and found acting incredibly difficult. NB: When acting is done poorly, it’s the easiest job on set.
When it’s done well, it’s by far the hardest. I wrote this movie during [COVID] lockdown and came out with this sort of weird confessional script and linked arms with [my producers], and we went on the hunt for our Julia. Then this one walked into a coffee shop in Koreatown.
Chase Infiniti: Three years ago. I was a month into shooting “Presumed Innocent.”And you did “One Battle After Another” between then and now, crazy. One of the things that struck me about this performance is how restrained your character is – even in the face of serious abuse and mistreatment from people and systems.
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