Marty Supreme Movie Review: Way Down We Go

Timothée Chalamet excels as the titular Marty Supreme, a young athlete who’s hell-bent on an endless downhill fall until, all of a sudden, he grows up.

As Alphaville’s “Forever Young” starts playing, the screen fades to pink; a sperm cell appears which soon becomes a whole bunch of them, all headed in the same direction, cueing us in to what might soon be in store for Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet, of A Complete Unknown) and his lover, Rachel Mizler (Odessa A’zion, of I Love LA). “Let us die young or let us live forever,” sing Alphaville, and no words could be more appropriate to describe our titular protagonist: a young man who’s hell-bent on making the world burn, and burning along with it, in order to achieve not love, not greatness, not even a dream, but a myth of his own creation.

Soon, we get to see Marty in action, at the Championship, and he is, indeed, a fantastic player. He’s also an entertaining one, whose personality shines as he effortlessly defeats his opponents, earning their respect by showcasing his talent while still recognizing their worth. And behind the scenes, Marty is playing another game entirely, as he has set his sights on Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow, of She Said), a Hollywood star who happens to be staying at the same hotel where he’s assigned himself a room. Kay is there with her husband, wealthy pen magnate Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), but that doesn’t stop her from accepting Marty’s invite to the semifinals.

But just when Marty seems to have achieved it all, something happens that changes everything. Aided by a new, silent paddle, Japanese player Koto Endo (played by real-life table tennis athlete Koto Kawaguchi, in his film debut) defeats Marty at the Finals, and Marty is absolutely a sore loser. More than that, he is a loser in denial, which sets him off on a wild goose chase in pursuit of one thing, and one thing only: winning at all costs, and proving his worth. With no job, no money, no place to live, and no self-respect, Marty would do anything to achieve greatness, including avoiding a pregnant lover, exploiting a bunch of friends and strangers, and putting himself and others in serious danger.

What happens next is best left unspoiled, but it’s an unpredictable ride that will have your eyes glued to the screen as you take each twist in, unaware of the passing of time. Thanks to a fantastic screenplay from writer-director Josh Safdie and co-writer/frequent collaborator Ronald Bronstein (Uncut Gems, Good Time), Marty Supreme is an enthralling, highly entertaining film, with impressive rhythm and so many wonderfully absurd scenes you’ll want to rewatch the moment they’re over. Marty’s most obnoxious lines will have you giggling from the very start, but there are several standout scenes throughout the film too, including an unexpected moment involving a bathtub and a hysterically funny confrontation at the house of Christopher (John Catsimatidis) and Dion Galanis (Luke Manley), the only businessmen who have ever taken Marty seriously – at least for a little while.

Though Marty Supreme is inspired by real-life table tennis champion Marty Reisman, the story is fictional, and Safdie and Bronstein put their characters first, starting from Marty himself. Our protagonist is one of the reasons this story works so well, as he embodies a series of contradictions that make him such an interesting figure to follow regardless of how much we may tire of him as the story unfolds.

Because Marty isn’t a nice person, but he isn’t entirely unlikable. A very good table tennis player but a serial avoider of responsibilities, our protagonist is deluded but dedicated, self-destructive but ingenious, flawed but incredibly smart. He’s entitled enough to blame everyone else for his own mistakes, calculating enough to instantly irritate most people he meets, unempathetic enough to be completely indifferent to friends and family getting seriously hurt, yet also so disarming and self-destructive to inspire undying sympathy in the very few people who are willing to take him seriously, and who’ll eventually, inevitably, be dragged down with him – some more literally than others.

Because Marty is absolutely a narcissist. He’ll do anything to get what he wants, from humiliating himself to leaving the people whose lives were affected by his choices to fend for themselves. Yet, at the same time, he’s so immature and delusional that it’s hard to discard him entirely, no matter how irritating he can become. Yes, he’s pathetic, but he’s not as hopeless as the protagonist of Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, whose lack of self-awareness makes him so endlessly watchable, and even endearing. At the same time, though he’s certainly manipulative, he’s not as ruthless as Todd Field’s Tár‘s titular orchestra conductor, whose lack of redeeming qualities and nasty behavior makes our time with her extremely unpleasant (in the best possible way).

Underneath it all, Marty is, quite simply, a child whose toy was taken away from him: he’s driven by pure instinct, acts out to defend himself, has no awareness of danger, doesn’t know how to have adult conversations, and his constant pursuit of success comes from his inability to look inward, facing himself for who he really is. Spending time with Marty Supreme‘s protagonist can be quite a tiring experience, yet at the same time, we never lose interest, as our hero is so multi-faceted and complex that we can’t help but want to follow him on this journey.

Superb cinematography (Darius Khondji), editing (Bronstein and Safdie) and sound design (Chris Chae) and an irresistible score (Daniel Lopatin) make Marty Supreme an incredibly gripping film. The matches themselves are riveting and tense, but so are the battles that take place in real life, which see Marty escaping situations, confronting threats, devising plans, and making important – and potentially life-altering – choices. It’s a fast-paced, energetic film, heightened by Marty’s poor decision-making, tendency to ramble, flair for the dramatic, and ability surprise us by doing the right thing when we least expect him to.

But this is also a movie that knows when to slow down, and it does so with a scene that will make you highly emotional within seconds, in which Timothée Chalamet proves that he absolutely deserves that Oscar. It’s the moment the entire film has been leading up to, and a conclusion to Marty’s arc that, in the best Josh Safdie tradition, leaves room for redemption, restoring our faith in humanity when we need it the most.

Marty Supreme is Chalamet’s show from start to end, and even though we’ve been seeing him excel for years – from Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name and Little Women to the recent Bones and All, Dune, A Complete Unknown and more – this is his best work so far. Marty is a very complex character, yet Chalamet plays him with such ease that he fully becomes the athlete, which makes his constant evolution so fascinating to watch. Despite the chaos, it’s also a surprisingly restrained performance that enables him to really deliver the emotion at the end in a scene that serves as a showcase of his acting skills.

Chalamet is joined by a huge cast of recognizable names, and the standouts are Odessa A’zion, who continues to prove she’s destined to greatness, Tyler the Creator, who makes the closest thing that Marty has to a friend so charismatic and relatable that we could watch an entire spin-off of his adventures, and Kevin O’Leary as the perfect villain for our tale. As the only character who sees Marty for what he really is, Gwyneth Paltrow is magnetic; Abel Ferrara is a welcome addition to the cast as a stranger named Ezra Mishkin who brings even more madness into Marty’s life.

“Can you imagine when this race is won?,” Alphaville ask, at the start of the movie, and by the time the film is over, we certainly can – only, it’s not the kind of race we expected. With flawless storytelling and characterization, superb rhythm and technical execution, and a fantastic lead performance from Timothée Chalamet, Josh Safdie teaches us that sometimes, while we’re busy chasing a dream, real life happens, and we grow up.

Marty Supreme will be released in U.S. theaters, in U.K. cinemas, and globally in theatres from December 25, 2025.