“Marty Supreme” First Reactions: Josh Safdie Delivers an Overhand Smash With a Career Best From Timothée Chalamet
The synopsis for co-writer/director Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme is sublimely simple: “Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.” In the film, Timothée Chalamet plays Marty, an up-and-coming ping pong prodigy whose ambition and pluck will drive him no matter how hard the world pushes back, and push back it will. Safdie’s film, his first solo directorial work since his 2008 debut, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, without his usual partner-in-crime, his brother Benny Safdie (whose own solo effort, The Smashing Machine, just bowed this past weekend), just had its world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival on Monday night. This means that the first reactions to Marty Supreme are now flying across the net like so many ping-pong balls. And the reactions are overwhelmingly positive, calling Marty Supreme the kind of thrilling picture of New York striving that only a Safdie could make.
Josh and Benny Safdie have built a stellar reputation with a run of unflinching films, including Daddy Longlegs, Lenny Cooke, Heaven Knows What, Good Time, and Uncut Gems. Here, Josh Safdie has created a sports dramedy that borrows from the grifter ethos of his past films and supercharges it. Set in 1950s New York, Chalamet’s undaunted table tennis wizard will stop at nothing to achieve his dreams, yet he’s living in a city infamous for its indifference to the striving of its teeming masses. Safdie has surrounded Chalamet with an incredible support cast—Gwyneth Paltrow plays a film star that Marty is convinced he can woo, while Odessa A’zion is coming in for high praise from critics for a star-turning performance. Kevin O’Leary, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher, and Tyler Okonma are also on board.
Marty Supreme is an A24 film, meaning the studio now has two Safdie brother films that will be vying for awards. Marty Supreme is slated to open on December 25. Let’s have a peek at what the reactions are to the film:
MARTY SUPREME: yeah Josh took all that wild Safdie energy with him. To call this a sports movie isn’t enough, this is a manic, madcap odyssey that is as exhilarating as it’s exhausting. Timothee’s star power is so bright & undeniable that it’s basically a supernova. LOVED it pic.twitter.com/Nis0tWcySr
— Hoai-Tran Bui (@htranbui) October 7, 2025
Marty Supreme aka One Paddle After Another: cannot believe we got two American movies this good back to back
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) October 7, 2025
A24’s Marty Supreme is the secret screening at the NYFF. Josh Safdie going solo delivers a wild rush of nonstop adrenaline much like Uncut Gems; Timothée Chalamet’s no-holds-barred performance could be his Wolf of Wall Street. He’ll be nominated for sure.
— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) October 7, 2025
MARTY SUPREME: Major, exhilarating filmmaking from Josh Safdie. Timothée Chalamet’s career-best performance—he was born to play this guy—with a tremendous Odessa A’Zion leading a superb supporting cast. It’s a wow.
— David Canfield (@davidcanfield97) October 7, 2025
A hometown crowd at @thenyff was the only way to welcome MARTY SUPREME into the world. So many threads to pull here, but love how Josh Safdie pulls out all the stops in tribute to the delusion and hustle required to think you can make it in NYC. It lives and breathes this city. pic.twitter.com/56ZnI4absw
— Marshall Shaffer (@media_marshall) October 7, 2025
MARTY SUPREME is Safdie’s best film yet. A kinetic odyssey that plays like a deranged cross between CATCH ME IF YOU CAN & UNCUT GEMS. Timothée Chalamet delivers the performance of a lifetime in this unforgettable, awe-inspiring cinematic tour-de-force that fires on all cylinders pic.twitter.com/ZGrfWGNYpo
— Diego Andaluz (@thediegoandaluz) October 7, 2025
MARTY SUPREME is a sprawling and electrifying sports epic bursting with vitality from the first frame to the last. Josh Safdie delivers a masterful slice of organized chaos on a larger scale he’s ever worked with before, propelling us through Marty’s relentless quest to prove to… pic.twitter.com/Ll3zrJnqEB
— Matt Neglia @NYFF (@NextBestPicture) October 7, 2025
MARTY SUPREME: Can human beings sweat that much? Josh Safdie & DP Darius Khondji make ping pong cinematic by allowing the ball’s movements to dictate the contours of the frame; I was riveted by each volley & by Daniel Lopatin’s celestial, madcap score. Peak grifter-core cinema. pic.twitter.com/YnB7tlPjav
— Zachary Lee @NYFF (@zacharoni22) October 7, 2025
Josh Safdie reapplying his UNCUT GEMS greatest hits via MARTY SUPREME but on a larger scale in a portrait of purpose post WWII. Timothée channels that CATCH ME IF YOU CAN DiCaprio and Howard Ratner and makes for a hilarious comic performance. Fun and stressful time all around. pic.twitter.com/bmJefwsxdt
— Rendy Jones (@rendy_jones) October 7, 2025
How is that Timothée Chalamet just keeps wowing me more and more with every performance? He is absolutely electrifying in #MartySupreme.
Yet again, you can feel him giving every ounce of himself and then some – a quality this role demands. Chalamet’s Marty is a guy with a… pic.twitter.com/POXymKWKC3
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) October 7, 2025
Marty Supreme is an absolute blast of adrenaline and the follow-up to Uncut Gems we’ve been craving. Just as demented and tense, but drunk on the confidence of youth and the arrogance to believe that talent and charm is enough. As a piece of cinema it sure as hell is. #NYFF pic.twitter.com/AKGBIT6hX4
— David Crow (@DCrowsNest) October 7, 2025
Marty Supreme feels like the most personal movie Josh Safdie has made. A madcap ode to strivers. A great New York movie. A good dog movie. Chalamet born for this.
— Jake Coyle (@jakecoyleAP) October 7, 2025
Featured image: Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme.” Courtesy A24.