Marty Supreme (2025)

​“Marty Supreme” stars Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, and Fran Drescher.  Released on December 25, 2025, the film follows a man’s strive to become a professional table tennis player.

The film was directed by Josh Safdie, who’s known for directing “The Pleasure of Being Robbed” and co-directing “Daddy Longlegs”, “Heaven Knows What”, “Good Time”, and “Uncut Gems” with Benny Safdie.  Whether one is a sports player, artist, or actor, they all strive to be the best of the best in their careers.  Some accomplish it through determination, respect, and self-trust, hoping that the rest will follow suit.  However, others go to greater lengths to reach the top, even taking actions we assume are toxic or absurd.  This young man aims to be on top in the world of ping pong, though that’s far from an easy task when his ego is bigger than a tennis racket.  Now that Benny Safdie has delved into the boxing world with Dwayne Johnson, it’s his brother Josh’s turn to make audiences feel the excitement and drama in a sports community.  This time, the action is set on a small table tennis court, as Timothée Chalamet aims to continue his holiday winning streak this year as an egotistical competitor.  Who says people don’t want to feel the stress of playing ping pong during the holiday season?  Does it take home the trophy in the sports drama category, or deserve to be disqualified for its toxic behavior?  Let’s find out.

The story centers on Marty Mauser (Chalamet), a shoe salesman in 1950s New York City who takes up professional table tennis.  He strives to overcome his opponents and hustle his way to become the best ping pong player ever, despite his behavior being deemed “unruly”.  During his quest, Marty forms a partnership with wealthy businessman Milton Rockwell (O’Leary) while seducing his wife, Kay Stone (Paltrow), a retired actress.  Marty also comes across a situation involving his married childhood friend, Rachel Mizler (A’zion), who is expecting a child.  The consequences of his choices are what stand between Marty and victory as he seeks to compete in the World Championship in Tokyo.

It bears repeating that the Safdie Brothers are exceptionally talented at delivering psychological flair and vibrant finesse in their filmmaking.  Of course, I’m not just talking about their direction.  This is evident in “Uncut Gems”, the first film I’ve watched that was directed by both of them.  While they haven’t been directing together since then, Josh and Benny still worked on their projects separately.  So, they’re still active.  They’re just not working together.  This year, the brothers worked on two different sports films seeking to take home the gold, though as far as I can tell, we already have a clear winner.  Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” didn’t perform financially as well as we had hoped, despite having Dwayne Johnson as the main lead.  However, it did earn him a Golden Globe nomination for his performance, so I wouldn’t call it a huge loss.  So now we have Josh Safdie taking a swing in the sports world with his first solo project since “The Pleasure of Being Robbed” in 2008.

“Marty Supreme” was another film I was hoping to see due to its fantastic word of mouth, a strong box-office debut, and numerous award nominations, including Best Picture.  Another reason was the involvement of Timothée Chalamet, who has become one of my favorite actors working today since “Call Me by Your Name”.  It’s hard to ignore that his filmography so far has been nothing but spectacular, and that’s before he reached his 30s.  After hearing about his role in “Marty Supreme” being his career-best, there’s no doubt that we’ll be seeing more of Chalamet sooner rather than later, especially during the Christmas season.  Seriously, his presence during the holidays shines brighter than Rudolph’s red nose.  People have been raving about this one for weeks, and now that I have finally watched it, does it deserve the hype?  Honestly, yes.  It does seem to follow the usual sports storytelling playbook seen in other similar films, but with characters who would make viewers want to smack them with paddles.  However, “Marty Supreme” stands out as one of the movies that did the premise justice, not just in its star power and nerve-wracking suspense, but also in its riveting display of toxic ambition.

On paper, “Marty Supreme” can be seen as a traditional narrative in which the protagonist overcomes impossible odds to achieve his sporting dreams.  In this case, we see Marty in a predicament that requires him to earn the money needed to compete in the World Championship, a gateway to ping-pong greatness.  While that may be the case, what really sells the movie is the thematic undertones within this stressful journey.  Along with its subtle reflection of the sports entertainment realm, “Marty Supreme” offers a thrilling and well-handled outlook of a person’s ambition and the consequences that come from the choices made to fulfill it.  Despite the merits of that intent, including popularity, the film doesn’t shy away from the repercussions of poor decisions that could endanger oneself and others.  Marty is undoubtedly someone who makes plenty of dumb choices due to his incompetent ego and malignant behavior, which is enough to make viewers repeatedly call him an “idiot”.  However, those repercussions define the film’s stress-inducing, dynamic narrative, making for a two-and-a-half-hour ride that blends its far-fetched scenarios with uneasy drama.

It wasn’t easy for Josh Safdie and his co-writer, Ronald Bronstein, to craft a screenplay that’s full of unlikable characters with little to no redeeming qualities, including its protagonist.  People usually watch these sports movies not only to be inspired but also to cheer for the “hero” seeking to claim victory in the world of sports.  “Marty Supreme” may have had those traits, but Marty is far from supreme in his egotism.  Fortunately, the writers managed to make this character work for me.  Marty is not meant to be a character we root for; instead, he serves as a testament to the amorality that accompanies the pursuit of greatness, showcasing a protagonist who is flawed in decision-making and in his sense of humanity.  It’s enough to warrant its revitalized take on a sports comeback story that audiences are familiar with.  This trait is further emphasized by Timothée Chalamet, who delivers another fantastic performance that showcases his talents to the fullest.  Through his charismatic yet unruly nature that never holds back in his presence, Chalamet imbues the screen with a dynamic flair that makes it easy for me to excuse Marty’s incompetence.  Regarding his filmography, I can see why this is Chalamet’s best role of his career: it's in a different ballpark from some of his sympathetic roles, and he handled it exceptionally well.

In addition to the writing, Safdie and Bronstein were also responsible for editing the film as they saw fit.  Its two-and-a-half-hour runtime does seem a bit much, especially for a movie featuring an unlikable main character, but, truth be told, it doesn’t feel that long.  The editing provides a suitably clean approach that showcases the energy of the film’s drama and sports action, especially the latter.  However, what really makes it shine is that it maintains the momentum it introduced in minute one, making the conversations between the characters as exhilarating as its table tennis matches.  While the movie may be on the verge of losing track of the ball, there’s never a single moment that stalls the narrative completely.  Safdie and Bronstein ensured that the pacing functions in the same rhythm as the sounds of the rackets hitting the ball back and forth, inducing a hypnotic pizazz that’s difficult to resist.  I would also credit Daniel Lopatin’s score for emphasizing the film’s energetic soul and for complementing its 1950s production design.  Given his previous collaborations with the Safdie brothers, it’s no surprise that Lopatin would provide music that raises our blood pressure in the best way possible.

As mentioned before, I admired the Safdie brothers for highlighting the psychological tension between the characters, whether within the action or outside of it, particularly in “Uncut Gems”.  “Marty Supreme” has Josh Safdie taking that style to heart, even without his brother Benny's assistance.  Now, I’m not going to compare the two Safdies regarding their separate projects, notably “The Smashing Machine” and “Marty Supreme”, because that won’t make me a respectable critic if I do.  They share a familiar style, but seem to approach it differently.  For Josh, he appears to carry a familiar flair from “Uncut Gems” in the nerve-wracking tension of the conversations and the sport it covers.  While not in the same league as “Uncut Gems” narrative-wise, it does deliver on the urgency and stress of a despicable character seeking to make ends meet.  Unsurprisingly, Safdie’s take on the scenario is nothing short of unwavering brilliance.  In addition to the compelling drama, Safdie provided an impressive blend of charisma and dark humor that’s both humorous and even electrifying, all without being too detestable for its own good.  Not only that, but Safdie actually made table tennis more entertaining than I thought it would.  I don’t usually watch much table tennis, but seeing Safdie take the wheel of how the sport is presented may make me think otherwise.

It’s obvious that Chalamet was the best part of the film among the cast, but that doesn’t mean I can neglect the supporting cast.  I’ve only been familiar with Gwyneth Paltrow through her role as Pepper Potts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so this film is actually my first exposure to her outside the blockbuster franchise.  Based on what I’ve seen, I thought Paltrow did great in portraying Kay Stone as an actress who’s caught up in an affair with Marty.  The age difference between Marty and Kay may be concerning enough to make some viewers feel uncomfortable, but this intent works well with the tone it’s aiming for, even if it raises some eyebrows.  Odessa A’zion was able to find her footing in her acting talents following her appearance in the “Until Dawn” adaptation, as her performance as Rachel was riveting enough to match Chalamet’s undeniable talent.  The movie also featured Tyler Okonma, aka “Tyler, the Creator”, in his feature film debut as Wally, Marty’s friend and taxi driver, and he was surprisingly great as well.  He’s not in it as much as Marty, but his shining moment convinced me that he might make it big in the film industry outside his music career.

Overall, “Marty Supreme” is an enticing, sublimely crafted ping-pong epic that effectively conveys the tension and toxicity of one’s pursuit of greatness.  Despite the risks stemming from its unlikable protagonist, Josh Safdie successfully used it to create a highly invigorating sports tale of the lengths one goes to hustle their way to the top.  It is a rip-roaring, well-paced, and dynamically tense ride that’s full of irresistible star power and many, many bad choices.  Timothée Chalamet delivers one of the best performances of his career as the titular ping-pong hustler, which complements Josh Safdie’s incredible vision regarding the direction, script, and editing.  While its mean-spirited vibes may not impress everyone, the film is another example of Safdie’s ability to portray alluring anxiety in both storytelling and craft.  If you’re a fan of Safdie’s previous works or Chalamet himself, this is one table tennis match worth watching this holiday season.

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