It’s all in the title. “Marty Supreme” can tell you everything you need to know about how its protagonist views himself. Yet much like the great protagonists of the Safdie brothers’ previous films, it’s also what becomes their great undoing. Being the first film of director Josh Safdie following a split from Benny, Marty Supreme is a movie all about that feeling of being on top of the world, let alone convincing yourself that you’re worthy of such greatness. Naturally, when someone believes that they’re worthy of greatness, it’s the need to cling onto it by any means necessary that might show something else entirely.
Set in 1950s New York, Marty Supreme stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, a young ping-pong prodigy struggling to make ends meet working in his uncle’s shoe store. An opportunity seems to come his way after taking off to London to participate in a world ping-pong championship, wanting to live the dream as much as he possibly can. This includes upgrading from a bunk provided by the tournament to the Ritz, believing he’s got access to so much more than he’d imagine. Here, he meets the movie star Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), with whom he is smitten, who’s married unhappily to Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), a businessman who takes interest in Marty. And soon enough, Marty finds that his great undoing comes forth after the championship doesn’t go his way, and his childhood best friend Rachel (Odessa A’zion) is pregnant.
To no one’s surprise, this movie is one that belongs to Timothée Chalamet. As the titular Marty Mauser, there’s no actor that might be more fit to play a completely narcissistic ping pong champion like Chalamet is. Though it’s also where Josh Safdie does lots of heavy lifting too, so that you feel every minute of his ego stroking consuming him minute by minute. It all starts with a very distinct opening title sequence, one that might even challenge the opening reveal of Uncut Gems, all the way down to the scenes where we’re seeing Marty interacting with his friends. At his age, it’d be easy enough to sense that Marty believes he’s the best in the world – and his means to prove it may even put him in trouble with people he loves dearly.
Like Uncut Gems, Marty Supreme comes at you with such high energy and never lets up. It’s the sort of rush that feels perfect for a movie all about someone whose belief in superstardom consumes the better of them. So this quest for Marty to get that opportunity to reclaim that glory will inevitably mean he drags people he loves down with him. Oftentimes, it’s very funny seeing what he’ll get himself into because of his belief that he can dream big, as the film’s tagline would tell you. Marty’s recklessness allows Marty Supreme to develop its way into feeling like a thriller, as was the case with the Safdie brothers’ two previous films. The stakes are always high, first because we know that Marty wants to cling onto his fame – but his return from London is where Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein create something else entirely. Now, he’s desperate to climb out from being a joke, even if it means he puts several people’s lives at risk.
Ultimately, we ask ourselves, who is truly responsible for the creation of superstars? Perhaps that answer comes clear in the businessman antagonist Milton Rockwell, who’s played by an unfortunately very well-cast Kevin O’Leary. Granted, the Safdies have never been any stranger to stunt casting, as they’ve also previously worked with The Weeknd and Mike Francesa in Uncut Gems. Yet Kevin O’Leary stands out, as he’s basically playing a caricature of himself. While it’d be easy enough to think of many other actors who could play this part, O’Leary’s portrait of a ruthless businessman is as on-the-nose as one can get. It works perfectly, because he’s the embodiment of a climb up to the riches which came at the expense of many other talented people who didn’t meet his own standards. I hesitate to even call Kevin O’Leary’s performance “good,” but it oddly hammers down how a talented young prodigy can’t make the rules for their skill as long as people like Milton Rockwell can buy it up.
And it serves as a perfect foil to Marty himself, especially while the United States has long established this idea that one’s not worth anything if they can’t talk good business. Because that’s exactly what it takes for someone like Marty to earn the whole world, especially if that’s what he believes he’s entitled to. As we’re being dragged down this path to greatness alongside him, we’re served a perfect balance to Mauser’s aggressive climb to glory by love interests. They come in the form of Odessa A’zion’s Rachel, who may or may not be pregnant with his child, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Kay Stone, an older woman whom young Marty starts to lust for. In this massive ensemble, both performers do everything they can to ground Timothée Chalamet into feeling like he could just be anyone we know: only because he’s someone who thinks he’s above everyone else around him. This ensemble which Josh Safdie has assembled here is perfect: providing a great balance to Chalamet’s reckless pursuit of glory. Among them include Tyler Okonma (better known as Tyler, the Creator), Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher, and Emory Cohen. For the Safdies, all supporting players make their mark in some way or another, and it’s felt all throughout this movie.
With Marty Supreme being a massive project for Josh Safdie, and also being A24’s biggest production yet at $70 million, it’s easy enough to see how he’s made the most out of everything he has access to. But it’s also worth considering the contributions of both cinematographer Darius Khondji and composer Daniel Lopatin, who maintain a specific energy that allows its setting in the past to feel like it could be applicable anywhere. Lopatin’s scoring having the same electric cues would be enough to get you fired up, even if it’s inherently anachronistic to the film’s time period. Khondji maintains a close eye over the games in such a way that you always feel the sweat dripping down from constantly swinging the paddle back and forth in each ping-pong game. After all, the game being played in Marty Supreme is truly life or death for Marty as he sees it to be. It’s enough to make Marty one of Safdie’s most enduring protagonists, because you root for him to succeed even as you get dragged down further.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via A24.
Directed by Josh Safdie
Screenplay by Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein
Produced by Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Timothée Chalamet
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher
Premiere Date: October 6, 2025 (New York)
Running Time: 149 minutes
Cinema from the Spectrum 
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