Director: Josh Safdie
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 150 mins

Marty Supreme is Josh Safdie’s first film as a solo director since 2008, after his many collaborations with his brother Benny. This sports drama is loosely inspired by the life and career of American table tennis player Marty Reisman, and stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, an aspiring and ambitious table tennis champion. It’s a film Safdie has been wanting to make for a while, with Chalamet cast all the way back in 2018, the actor practicing the sport ever since. It’s also interesting that like his brother, Josh Safdie has also made a sports drama since the duo announced they would be pursuing solo careers. Benny Safdie recently directed The Smashing Machine, which received a fairly muted reception but I really liked it for its exceptional Dwayne Johnson performance, fascinating character development and focus on defying typical biopic conventions.

Marty Supreme is a brilliant sports drama with a terrific Timothée Chalamet central performance and tension-filled atmosphere. It reminded me heavily of Uncut Gems, the last film the Safdies directed together, in how it sustains a palpable tension throughout with Marty continually digging himself into more desperate situations. That Josh Safdie has been able to make such a gripping film out of what may seem like a low-stakes sport is a commendable achievement.

Timothée Chalamet is endlessly charismatic as the ambitious table tennis star and it’s impressive how much we care for someone who is a fairly unlikeable individual. He’s fiercely sharp and crass, doing anything to attract attention and make a name for himself to carve out a career. This is very much Chalamet’s film, with the rest of the cast in fairly small roles, and he’s fully deserving of what I suspect will be a lot of upcoming Awards attention. The film’s paced brilliantly and the 150 minutes fly by, although it takes 20 minutes or so for the film to really grip you under its spell.

Odessa A’zion is another highlight as Rachel Mizler, an equally scuzzy character who Marty has an affair with and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary is brilliant as the slimy Milton Rockwell, an influential figure who takes a financial interest in table tennis through Marty. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Rockwell’s retired actress wife, Kay, and while she’s perfectly serviceable, her performance is quite muted. There’s also strong turns from Tyler, the Creator (yes, really!) as a taxi driver and filmmaker Abel Ferrara as a criminal Marty dangerously crosses paths with.

The film is stunningly shot by Darius Khondji, with a seedy aesthetic that faithfully recreates a 1950s feel and there’s a pulsating score by Daniel Lopatin that dominates over the entire film – Khondji and Lopatin both previously worked on Uncut Gems too. I expect both will receive Oscar nominations for their work here, and both would be very deserving.

I had an absolute blast with Marty Supreme, which gripped me throughout and this firmly cements Josh Safdie as a top-tier solo director. It’s a wild thrill ride from start to finish that never lets you take a breather and it’s wince-inducing how characters dig themselves into more desperate situations, but impressive in how you root for a host of unlikeable characters. I can’t wait to rewatch it and this is a film that’s begging to be seen on as big and loud a screen as possible.