Abel Ferrara, comedy, drama, Emory Cohen, film festivals, Fran Drescher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Japan, John Catsimatidis, Kevin O'Leary, Koto Kawaguchi, Larry Ratso Sloman, Luke Manley, Marty Supreme, movies, New York City, New York Film Festival, Odessa A’zion, Ralph Colucci, reviews, sports, table tennis, Timothee Chalamet, Tyler Okonma, Tyler the Creator
December 1, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Josh Safdie
Some language in Japanese with no subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place from 1952 to 1953, primarily in New York City and in Japan (with some scenes in Paris, London, and Egypt), the comedy/drama “Marty Supreme” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: An American aspiring professional table-tennis player, who is about to become a first-time father, goes to extremes to travel to Japan, where he wants to win a table-tennis championship.
Culture Audience: “Marty Supreme” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Josh Safdie, suspenseful sports movies, and well-acted stories about obsessive ambition.
“Marty Supreme” is about an ambitious and arrogant table-tennis player, but the movie grabs viewers and never lets go, like a mixed-martial artist in a race against time. Timothée Chalamet gives a superb performance in this tension-filled comedy/drama. Don’t expect the movie to actually show a lot of table-tennis playing, although the scenes of people playing table tennis are have a certain amount of thrills. “Marty Supreme” isn’t about the technicalities of the sport or an in-depth look at the sport’s top players. This outstanding movie is more about desperation to be somebody “important,” while clawing and fighting against stagnant society conventions along the way.
Directed by Josh Safdie (who co-wrote the “Marty Supreme” screenplay and edited the movie with Ronald Bronstein), “Marty Supreme” had a surprise world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival. “Marty Supreme” is Safdie’s first movie since having a creative split from his previous filmmaker partner: his younger brother Benny Safdie. (Benny Safdie, who is also an actor and a film editor, went on to make the decidedly more low-key movie “The Smashing Machine,” a 2025 biopic starring Dwyane Johnson as mixed-martial artist champion Mark Kerr.)
Together, the Safdie brothers wrote and directed movies such as 2017’s “Good Time” (starring Robert Pattinson) and 2019’s “Uncut Gems” (starring Adam Sandler), which are the two movies that “Marty Supreme” will get compared to the most because all three movies feature a flawed central protagonist under extreme pressure to get something life-changing done in a time crunch. All three movies are loud, nerve-wracking, and set primarily in New York City. “Marty Supreme” (which was filmed on location in New York City) is the most creative and best-acted movie of the three, in addition to having wilder and more unexpected turns than “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems.”
“Marty Supreme” begins in 1952, with a seemingly ordinary scene inside a shoe store in New York City, where a restless 23-year-old named Marty Mauser (played by Chalamet) works as a sales clerk. Marty doesn’t like this job, but he needs the money because he’s saving for a trip to Japan, where he hopes to accomplish what he really wants to do with his life: become a world champion in table tennis. Table tennis (the formal competition term for pinng pong) is a sport that is mostly popular in Asia and Europe, but Marty wants to be the pioneer who makes table tennis extremely popular in the United States and in other countries around the world.
At the moment, Marty is stuck in a job, where the store owner/Marty’s boss happens to be Marty’s uncle Murray Norkin (played by Larry “Ratso” Sloman), who wants to mentor Marty to take over the business. Marty is a natural hustler and a very skilled salesman, but he has no interest doing any type of job except being a professional table tennis player. In the beginning of the movie, Murray has promoted Marty to store manager. It’s a promotion that Marty didn’t want or ask for, but it’s a promotion very much wanted by Marty’s jealous co-worker Lloyd (played by Ralph Colucci), who is very straight-laced and very much a follower of rules.
Marty lives with his single mother Rebecca Mauser (played by Fran Drescher), who is Murray’s sister. Rebecca has long since given up hope that Marty will lead a “normal” life. Her attitude toward Marty shows both resignation and frustration. Marty keeps a lot of secrets from Rebecca. And he mostly tries to avoid interacting with Rebecca unless he’s in trouble and/or needs money.
In one of the first scenes in the movie, Marty has a sexual tryst in a back storage/stock room of the shoe store with Rachel Mizler (played by Odessa A’zion), who’s about the same age as Marty and has known him since childhood. Rachel went into the store pretending that she accidentally left her old shoes there the day before when she supposedly bought new shoes. Marty offers to help her look for her old shoes in the back, where they have quickie sex among the storage shelves.
As time goes on, it becomes apparent that Rachel (who works in a pet store) has had a longtime crush on unattainable Marty, a “love ’em and leave ’em” type who doesn’t love anyone or anything more than himself and his passionate pursuit to be a world champion in table tennis. Rachel is unhappily married to a working-class guy named Ira Mizler (played by Emory Cohen), who seems to be aware of Rachel’s feelings for Marty, but they don’t discuss it. About four months after Marty and Rachel have their sexual encounter, Marty finds out that she’s pregnant. She tells Marty that he’s the father of the unborn child, while leading Ira to believe that Ira is the father of the child.
Marty becoming a father doesn’t stop his table-tennis goals. His biggest hope of going to Japan to compete in a world ping-pong championship is to be sponsored as the player representing the United States. The person he thinks is most likely to sponsor him is an affluent businessman named Christopher Galanis (played by John Catsimatidis), whose son 30-year-old Dion Galanis (played by Luke Manley) greatly admires Marty and speaks highly of Marty.
Dion is meek and seems to be on the autism spectrum. Marty takes advantage of Dion’s social awkwardness to manipulate Dion into setting up a meeting with Marty and Christopher, with Dion in attendance. Marty makes his big pitch to Christopher, who is unfamiliar with table tennis. “I’m in a unique position to be the face of the entire sport for the United States.” Marty pitches Christopher on sponsoring Marty like a stockbroker would pitch a potential client to invest in an “under the radar” stock that’s about to be the hottest stock on the market.
The pitch works. And with Marty getting a sponsorship deal (which covers his hotel, food, and competition costs), he’s now set to go to Japan, where Marty wants to defeat reigning ping-pong world champion Koto Endo (played by Koto Kawaguchi), who barely says anything in the movie. But there’s a major problem: Marty’s mother Rebecca, who was supposed to buy the plane ticket, used the money for something else because she didn’t believe Marty would actually be able to be in this competition. The rest of “Marty Supreme” is the beginning of even more problems that Marty faces and all the madcap misadventures and con games that he gets involved in along the way.
During the course of the story, Marty has a torrid and uneasy sexual affair with an unhappily married socialite named Kay Stone (played by Gwyneth Paltrow), who used to be a movie star in the 1930s, until she married a wealthy businessman named Milton Rockwell (played by Kevin O’Leary), the owner of the Rockwell pen manufacturing company. Kay, who is trapped in a marriage to a very controlling husband, comes out of retirement to do a stage play funded by Milton. Marty boldly pursues Kay after he sees that she and Milton are staying at the same hotel where he’s staying. Kay gives in to Marty’s sexual seduction out of curiosity, boredom and some genuine attraction.
For reasons that are shown in the movie, Marty spends a lot of time frantically trying to get money for a second trip to Japan. This leads to even more problems. And this time, Marty’s taxi driver friend Wally (played by Tyler Okonma, also known as Tyler, the Creator) and Rachel get involved. It’s an astonishing and treacherous journey that also involves a gangster named Ezra Mishkin (played by Abel Ferrara) and Ezra’s stolen dog: a German Shepherd named Moses.
In addition to being highly entertaining, “Marty Supreme” has excellent direction and screenwriting, as well as an unconventional soundtrack of 1980s music. (Alphaville’s “Forever Young” and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” are two songs that are prominently featured in the movie.) “Marty Supreme’s” talented ensemble cast members play each of their roles with great aplomb. A’zion gives a breakout performance as Rachel, who has many layers to her personality that are eventually revealed in the story.
The heart and soul of the movie is the flawed but fascinating Marty, with Chalamet giving one of the best movie performances of the year. Chalamet is also one of the producers of “Marty Supreme,” a notable cinematic achievement that will leave viewers breathless by the sheer force of energy displayed in the movie. The table-tennis championship is symbolic of something bigger. “Marty Supreme” is a frenetic and unforgettable journey showing Marty’s dogged and relentless pursuit of two things that people want, whether they want to admit it or not: recognition and respect.
A24 will release “Marty Supreme” in U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2025.