Marty Supreme Review: Josh Safdie and Timothee Chalamet Deliver the Year’s Defining Masterpiece

Josh Safdie just made ping-pong feel like a full-body panic attack in the best possible way. Yes, ping-pong. And yes, it rules.

The quick pitch

Set in the 1950s, 'Marty Supreme' follows Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet), a skinny, motor-mouthed table-tennis hustler who wants one thing: to become the most famous ping-pong player on the planet. The sport is just the front. This is a character study about a guy born to hustle, and Chalamet plays him like a charming wrecking ball.

"Short version: this is my movie of the year."

Where this sits in Safdie-land

A24 has two Safdie-related releases this year, and the brothers went solo to chase their own obsessions. Benny Safdie delivered 'The Smashing Machine,' which is quiet and contemplative. Josh went the other way. 'Marty Supreme' is a slam-bang, nerve-jangling two-and-a-half hours in the vein of 'Good Time' and 'Uncut Gems'—propulsive, abrasive, and weirdly tender when you least expect it.

Marty: the beautiful disaster

Chalamet gives a full-tilt, career-best turn here. Marty is the guy who would hustle anything—he just happens to be lethal with a paddle. Wire-thin, sporting a unibrow and a b.t.m. (bad teenage moustache), he talks fast, moves faster, and never thinks about the collateral damage he leaves behind. The comparison point is obvious but fair: it has shades of young De Niro or Pacino, that volatile star-is-born energy.

The wreckage he leaves (immediately)

The movie barely starts before Marty detonates his life and everyone else’s. Within five minutes he gets Rachel (Odessa A'zion), a woman from his tight-knit Jewish neighborhood, pregnant—she also happens to be married—and Safdie stages the moment of conception in a cheeky, 'Look Who’s Talking'-style visual gag. From there it’s a parade of people who cross Marty and do not walk away unscathed: a faded movie star he seduces, her powerful husband, his loyal cabbie best friend, and a few very dangerous types who do not appreciate being hustled.

Who shows up (and crushes)

• Odessa A'zion as Rachel, the complicated on-again off-again flame who is, in her own way, as much of a hustler as Marty. She’s terrific here and currently popping on HBO’s talked-about comedy 'I Love L.A.'
• Gwyneth Paltrow as an aging, easily manipulated actress—bold, ego-free performance—and a perfect mark for Marty.
• Kevin O'Leary, playing a role calibrated to his 'Shark Tank' persona, as the actress’s very powerful husband.
• Tyler, the Creator disappearing into a straight dramatic turn as the taxi driver Marty drags into one hairbrained scheme after another.
• Abel Ferrara—yes, that Abel Ferrara, one of Safdie’s clear influences—as a low-rent gangster tied to some of the film’s most shocking beats.

The style and the sound

Safdie shoots the 1950s like they’re happening at 200 beats per minute. The soundtrack is a trip: Daniel Lopatin’s score hums with Tangerine Dream vibes, and the needle drops play like 1988 barged into 1955—Tears for Fears, New Order, Public Image Ltd. It’s a heady, anachronistic mix, and it works.

The high

This thing is a rush—anxious, funny, and relentless. Safdie’s grip on tone and pace is so tight it feels like a two-hour binge you immediately want to repeat the second the credits hit. And for all of Marty’s selfish chaos, the movie keeps making you root for him, which is a neat trick only Safdie and a fully locked-in Chalamet pull off.

The verdict

'Marty Supreme' is a virtuoso jolt of filmmaking with a star performance that should cement Marty Mauser as an all-timer character for Chalamet. If cinema is allegedly on life support, Josh Safdie did not get the memo.

Rating: 10/10