Much like the titular ping pong obsessive he’s portraying in Marty Supreme, Timothée Chalamet is in the pursuit of greatness. In an era where Hollywood has shifted from the ‘Movie Star’ to franchising and nostalgia-baiting, Chalamet’s star power and brand cultivation around his latest film might mark the beginning of a paradigm shift for mid-budget movies going forward. Overseas, Marty Supreme just had the biggest per-theatre average for a film release since 2016. People are talking. And it probably helps that director Josh Safdie and Chalamet deliver the goods. This will go down as one of the great American movies.
Loosely inspired by real-life table tennis player Marty Reiser, Mauser (Chalamet) has only one goal in life: to be the best ping pong player in the world. After he loses in a bitter defeat to the Japanese star Endo (Koto Kawaguchi) in London, Mauser frantically tries to cobble together the funds to get himself to the world championship in Japan for a rematch on Endo’s home turf. But a salacious affair with his sponsor (Kevin O’Leary)’s movie star wife, Kay (Gwenyth Paltrow), another affair with his newly expecting childhood sweetheart Rachel (Odessa A’zion), and a robbery gone wrong (Abel Ferrara in a deliciously scuzzy role here) are only a handful of the increasingly precarious situations Marty finds himself in as he tries to hustle his way to the top.
It becomes clear very quickly that Safdie’s script, co-written by Ronald Bronstein, is far less interested in the minutiae of the sport itself and more so in the series of unfortunate (and ever escalating) situations leading up to the world championship. Marty Supreme plays, as such, as a spiritual successor to Uncut Gems (Safdie’s last film, co-directed with his brother Benny), with the obvious parallels being drawn between Mauser and Howard Ratner as their determination starts to skew their common sense and moral judgment. But more so than Uncut Gems, Supreme has tangibility in its protagonist. Yes, Marty Mauser is unlikeable and egotistical, and the self-aggrandising decisions estrange those around him. But he’s a dreamer. He’s the everyman, hustling for a purpose, constantly picking himself back up every time he’s knocked down. It’s hopeful. Chalamet brings a boyish charm to the role, and the fleeting moments of good outweigh the bad. It’s such a technically and morally complex character to pull off, to find the good in the chaos, yet Chalament’s deft skills make it all look so… effortless.
And the three instances where the narrative does indulge the ping pong quickly make the arguments of “ping pong not being a cinematic sport” redundant, as they flow with such eclectic, electric fervour. Safdie’s taut direction doesn’t let the momentum give out, ever. It’s a testament to the craftsmanship on display that such a high-energy, coked-up panic attack of a movie can flow so seamlessly and so easily cultivate such empathy for the absolutely deranged antics of Marty Mauser. The chaos is always rooted in humanity, though, through the lens of the wild-eyed optimist. Marty Supreme is a dizzying, euphoric cinematic odyssey about obsession, and yet, the concluding moments suggest it’s something else entirely: a film about what it means to be human, and one of the great contemporary masterpieces.
Marty Supreme
Summary
Josh Safdie and Chalamet deliver the goods – this will go down as one of the great American movies.
Marty Supreme is in cinemas from December 26th, 2025.
