marty supreme
review
god, this movie is a riot in all the best ways.
marty supreme stars the titular marty mauser, an egotistical prick who happens to be very good at table tennis. he lies, steals, and cons, all in the name of being “the best table tennis player in the world.” the first thing you see in the movie is him having sex with a married woman on his break during work, switching immediately to him robbing his workplace at gunpoint. it’s crazy.
the whole movie is just insane event to insane event. there’s no breaks, no time to reflect on any actions past; it’s 2 and a half hours of marty mauser digging himself further and further into a hole he really can’t worm his way out of, just so he can face off against a “rival” who probably couldn’t care if he ever saw marty again. he gets arrested after he returns to new york, so he runs from the cops into a shitty hotel. the shitty hotel’s floor collapses during his bath (which he was told would happen by the clerk), so he takes up an offer to take the dog to the vet. the dog escapes, so he sets up a ploy to get the money back by giving the owner a different dog. not a single one of his plans works as intended, and even when they do, there’s always some damage done to whoever he planned it with. there are points throughout the movie that made me genuinely squirm in my seat. the whole film is so tense. you have to just… sit there, and watch him blow up every relationship he has in his life, and watch him scrap together whatever he can just to save his sanity.
it’s all framed like marty is the good guy, a smart young up-and-comer passionate about his craft and willing to do anything to achieve his goals. he’s an entrepreneur, just looking for his big break both in and out of table tennis. it’s extremely obvious, though, that marty is a grade-A asshole driven by revenge because he got embarrassed on the world stage. he’s not willing to work, not willing to settle even temporarily, always trying to find the quick way back to the big stage. you rarely see him practice, and even when he plays, there’s always some bet on it. he betrays his friends, his cohorts, his family, all so that he can push himself forward. he’s selfish to a fault.
my problems are few and far between. i think there are moments where the tension gets a little too extreme to the point of genuine abrasion, and a couple of the characters tend to continually enable marty despite him constantly and repeatedly fucking him over. they’re small details, though, and extremely easy to brush aside as them having long-time relationships with the guy. the only character i think has nothing to gain from interacting with marty is kay, and even then, i can see how a disgruntled actor stuck doing shows she hates with a husband she hates could get swept away by a young, naive kid looking for a big break.
it’s a total shitshow with so many moving parts, insane plot beats and deep plunges into depravity, yet all of the insanity flows together into a remarkably compelling movie. it’ll make you uncomfortable, but you’ll never want to get up.
score
9/10
notes
- directed by josh safdie
- produced by A24 & Central Pictures
- released in 2025
- crossposted to letterboxd