Marty Supreme (2025)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, December 26

R Running Time: 150 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Timothée Chalamet is fearless as a performer and Marty Supreme establishes him as one of the defining actors of his generation.
Josh Safdie’s film moves at a breakneck pace, with frenetic editing and audacious storytelling choices that make this a 150-minute anxiety-laden moviegoing experience.
Unpredictable in countless ways, from Marty’s behaviors to the interactions he has and the things he says, to the modernized dialogue, and 1980s soundtrack for a film set in the 1950s, this thing is bonkers wild and a whole lot of fun.

NO

Though I was never bored, the film has an overstuffed narrative and some subplots stumble around with no real conclusion. This may frustrate some viewers who dislike ambiguity and want things fully wrapped up.
A narcissist, a childish and immature man, Marty is a lot to take. If you cannot get into Chalamet’s go-for-broke performance, then this will be a long sit for you.
The deeper points and themes of the film may be lost in the chaos that Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein put on screen, leaving some to wonder just what the point of all of this happens to be.

OUR REVIEW

With a performance akin to a bottle of champagne uncorked after being shaken relentlessly for a minute or so, Timothée Chalamet is an explosive force in Marty Supreme. An underdog table tennis sports movie, with an underdog who somehow steals your heart as easily as he infuriates you with his immature and self-serving, narcissistic behavior, this may be the most impressive performance of Chalamet’s career to date.

The actor, not yet 30, has already established a stellar body of work. On screen for nearly all of the film’s 150-minute running time, Chalamet cements himself as one of the defining actors of his generation.

For anyone who has seen a Safdie Brothers film (Uncut Gems, Good Time), you come to expect an unrelenting, careening whirlwind of a viewing experience. Directed by Josh Safdie, whose brother Benny delivered the underwhelming The Smashing Machine earlier this year, Marty Supreme is set in the 1950s, where an idealistic young man attempts to become famous in the world of competitive ping-pong.

Where Benny Safdie presented Dwayne Johnson’s Mark Kerr as an outsider who uses raw talent and charisma to become a UFC star, Josh Safdie draws loose inspiration from real-life table tennis legend Marty Reisman for his own creation.

Is this a true story? I mean … no. Not exactly. Chalamet is playing a fictionalized version of Reisman, here named Marty Mauser, an eccentric, outlandish table tennis star who pushed that career about as far as one could take it. He toured the world, created a larger-than-life persona that melded his personal and private lives together, even performing with the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team during the 1970s.

Chalamet embodies Reisman/Mauser as a schemer and a manipulator. His baby-faced looks and perfect hair serve as an entry point to a diabolical personality that swats away anything standing in the way of personal gain. When he begins an affair with married co-worker Rachel (Odessa A’zion), the resulting complications force him to pivot, yet again, toward another reckless path.

Through frenetic editing by Josh Safdie and co-writer/collaborator Ronald Bronstein, Marty Supreme moves at breakneck pace. Though set in the 1950s, the film features modernized dialogue and a soundtrack including 1980s tracks by Public Image, Ltd. and a chopped-and-screwed version of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” The proverbial needle drops fit perfectly, as Mauser sees himself as the greatest table tennis player in the world - a fact no one seems to know yet.

Because he refuses to take no for an answer and argues with anyone who dissents from his opinion, Marty Supreme can be as exhausting as it is thrilling. Chalamet’s Marty fearlessly pursues veteran Hollywood star Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), placing him squarely in the crosshairs of her husband - wealthy financier Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary). Rockwell is as equally irritated by Marty as he is intrigued by his audacity. While self-absorbed and oblivious to other truths happening around him and Kay, Milton sees money in the young man.

One theme running through Marty Supreme is exploitation. Marty exploits relationships for his own material gain, while others see an opportunity to exploit him in return. As we travel around the world, the film delivers some exhilarating ping-pong sequences, while sweeping you up into an anxiety-inducing experience that barely gives you time to breathe.

Few actors could maintain consistency in a film like this, but Chalamet makes this high-wire act look effortless. He pivots seamlessly from comedy to drama to suspenseful intensity, calling to mind the greats he referenced wanting to be remembered as, in his now-infamous Screen Actors Guild Awards speech he gave after winning Best Actor for 2024’s A Complete Unknown.

Despite some ponderous diversions the film makes, Marty Supreme flies by at two-and-a-half hours. You may not love the mob boss subplot, but director Abel Ferrara’s extended cameo finds him chewing scenery with delight. Part of the film’s appeal comes from watching just how this childish, impulsive brat of a man can entangle himself in absurd situations. When moments of humility present themselves, Marty proves incapable of vulnerability.

In a twisted way, Marty Mauser embodies the myth of the American Dream: the belief that hard work and determination guarantees success. What Safdie, Bronstein, and Chalamet ultimately reveal is the cost of such pursuits and the emotional wreckage left behind and damage done along the way. In the chase for fame and celebrity, one person’s downfall is another person’s chance to climb a rung higher on the fame ladder.

For someone like Marty Mauser, brilliantly brought to life by Timothée Chalamet, that ladder appears endless.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher, Sandra Bernhard, Luke Manley, John Catsimatidis, Emory Cohen, Isaac Mizrahi, Géza Röhrig, Larry Sloman, Koto Kawaguchi, George Gervin, Penn Jillette, David Mamet, Fred Hechinger

Director: Josh Safdie
Written by: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
Release Date: December 19, 2025
A24

Timothée Chalamet is fearless as a performer and Marty Supreme establishes him as one of the defining actors of his generation.

Josh Safdie’s film moves at a breakneck pace, with frenetic editing and audacious storytelling choices that make this a 150-minute anxiety-laden moviegoing experience.

Unpredictable in countless ways, from Marty’s behaviors to the interactions he has and the things he says, to the modernized dialogue, and 1980s soundtrack for a film set in the 1950s, this thing is bonkers wild and a whole lot of fun.

Though I was never bored, the film has an overstuffed narrative and some subplots stumble around with no real conclusion. This may frustrate some viewers who dislike ambiguity and want things fully wrapped up.

A narcissist, a childish and immature man, Marty is a lot to take. If you cannot get into Chalamet’s go-for-broke performance, then this will be a long sit for you.

The deeper points and themes of the film may be lost in the chaos that Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein put on screen, leaving some to wonder just what the point of all of this happens to be.