“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 debutThe Pleasure of Being Robbed, without his usual partner-in-crime, his brother Benny Safdie (whose own solo effort, The Smashing Machinejust 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:

Featured image: Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme.” Courtesy A24.

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