‘Marty Supreme’ Review: Pursuing Greatness And Succeeding

After working as a duo since 2009, directors Benny and Josh Safdie chose to go their separate ways for their 2025 films. Benny opted to make a straightforward biopic about UFC fighter Mark Kerr starring Dwayne Johnson in his first real dramatic role, which got mixed reception at worst. Josh Safdie meanwhile also decided to make a film based on a real person, except his approach was a little different, deciding to do a fictionalized version of a real person named Marty Reisman. This manifested as Marty Supreme.

Marty Supreme follows Marty Mauser (not Reisman in this story) as he attempts to become the world champion in table tennis, no matter the cost. On paper this could sound rather boring, but don’t get it twisted, Marty Supreme is one of the most riveting films of the 2020s. From the very first scene the energy is through the roof, and director Josh Safdie keeps his foot on the pedal for the duration of nearly the entire film.

This, of course, is bolstered by Timotheé Chalamet’s undeniably sharp portrayal of the titular slime ball, who you should really want to hate but you can’t help rooting to see him succeed. The final scene locked the best actor win for Timotheé in my mind. Truthfully, a career best performance.

 The supporting cast deserves their flowers as well, Gwyneth Paltrow is incredibly charming as actor Kay Stone and Odessa A’Zion’s portrayal of Rachel broke my heart multiple times. Kevin O’Leary plays one of the worst people of all time, and it’s genuinely hard to tell if he was acting good or if Safdie just kept the camera rolling. Tyler Okonma (aka Tyler, The Creator) also brings his own electricity to the screen, and his chemistry with Chalamet is frankly incredible.

One underrated aspect I want to highlight is Daniel Lopatin’s score, which I found to be excellent and very unique, if not a little insane for a period piece like this. One track in the film, for instance, incorporates frog croaking, and I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear when I noticed it whilst sitting in the theater. The production design is also top notch and really justifies that $70M price tag.

Overall, Marty Supreme is my personal pick for film of the year, with its electric script and direction that brought out some career-defining performances. I simply cannot recommend this film enough.

A24’s Marty Supreme is directed by Josh Safdie and stars Timotheé Chalamet, Odessa A’Zion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Fran Drescher, and more. The film written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie is now playing in theaters.

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