Timothée Chalamet Sparks Backlash After Crowning Marty Supreme His Best Performance Yet

Timothée Chalamet is in full chest-thump mode heading into Christmas. His new movie, the Josh Safdie-directed ping-pong drama 'Marty Supreme,' doesn’t hit theaters until December 25, but early festival reactions have been glowing, and Chalamet is calling it the best work he’s ever done. Naturally, the internet has opinions.

Chalamet, unfiltered

In a chat with journalist Margaret Gardiner, Chalamet didn’t hedge. He talked about his grind, his discipline, and how hard he’s been pushing for years. Then he dropped this:

'This is probably my best performance, and it’s been like seven, eight years that I feel like I’ve been handing in really, really committed, top-of-the-line performances... This is really some top-level sh*t.'

He also joked that after hearing George Clooney call him a great actor, what he really needed was a little more confidence. Subtlety is dead; confidence is not.

Fans: divided, loud

The comments lit up X. Some folks loved the swagger; others called it delusional; a few dunked on him with memes. Posts from December 9–10 name-checked him for having an ego, joked that the bar wasn’t exactly high to begin with, and one screenwriter, Adam G. Simon, warned that talking about yourself like that makes actors look like, well, not great. In other words: classic modern PR cycle — hype meets heckling.

What the movie actually is

'Marty Supreme' comes from Josh Safdie (co-written with Ronald Bronstein) and follows Chalamet as Marty Mauser, a young guy in the 1950s chasing a ping-pong dream nobody respects. It’s an A24 release with that Safdie energy — loud, anxious, kinetic — and Chalamet right at the center trying to keep the ball in play while everything around him spins.

The secret premiere and the raves

NYFF snuck this in as a secret screening on October 6, 2025, and critics came out buzzing. Variety’s Ramin Setoodeh likened it to a wild mash-up of 'Uncut Gems,' 'The Catcher in the Rye,' and 'Jerry Maguire' — with Chalamet doing career-best work. Diego Andaluz at DiscussingFilm called it Safdie’s best movie yet, a deranged sprint that sits somewhere between 'Catch Me If You Can' and 'Uncut Gems,' anchored by Chalamet’s 'performance of a lifetime.' David Crow said it’s the chaotic, adrenalized follow-up to 'Uncut Gems' he’s been waiting for, only this time it’s soaked in youthful swagger. ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley went even bigger, calling it the best film of the year and comparing Chalamet’s showmanship to Cody Rhodes finally winning at WrestleMania 40. And THR’s David Canfield? He said Chalamet was born to play this guy. It’s a lot of praise, but the consistency across outlets is the interesting part.

The long game Chalamet played

If you’re wondering how a period ping-pong movie ends up with this much juice, here’s the part that surprised me: Chalamet started training for this role back in 2018. During COVID, he set up shop in his Tribeca living room. He kept drilling while shooting 'Wonka,' 'Dune,' and 'The French Dispatch.' Safdie brought in Diego Schaaf to shape his game and former U.S. Olympian Wei Wang to coach him. Chalamet told THR that if anyone thinks the prep stories are made up, he’s got the receipts, and that he was working on this and 'A Complete Unknown' at the same time, with years to bake both performances.

Awards and the road ahead

The movie’s already a Golden Globes player with three nominations: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor for Chalamet, and Best Screenplay for Safdie and Bronstein. Post-premiere chatter even has him positioned to tussle with the big names during the next Oscar run — yes, Leonardo DiCaprio, and even Dwayne Johnson got tossed into that conversation. Bold predictions? Sure. But right now the tide is going his way.

Quick hits

• World premiere: October 6, 2025 at the New York Film Festival as a secret Main Slate screening
• U.S. release: December 25, 2025
• Awards: 3 Golden Globes nominations (Picture – Musical/Comedy, Actor – Chalamet, Screenplay – Safdie/Bronstein)
• Creative team: Directed by Josh Safdie; co-written with Ronald Bronstein; released by A24
• Story: Timothée Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, a 1950s ping-pong obsessive chasing a dream nobody believes in
• Streak: Second Christmas Day release in a row for Chalamet after last year’s 'A Complete Unknown'

So yeah, the confidence is loud. But if the NYFF reactions hold and the Globes nods turn into real momentum, he might’ve earned the right to talk his talk. We’ll find out for sure on Christmas.