It only takes a few minutes to realize that Marty Mauser is not a trustworthy person. In the opening sequence of Marty Supreme (2025), we see our protagonist working in a shoe store. Through his interaction with a female customer, we discover a storyteller, a swindler, a smooth-talking hustler willing to do anything to sell a pair of shoes, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. This Marty lacks a moral compass; ambition is his only guide.

Director Josh Safdie delivers a film with a frenetic rhythm from start to finish, a relentless vortex that pulls us under as we watch Marty move heaven and earth in pursuit of his dream of becoming a world table tennis champion. Safdie joins forces with Ronald Bronstein to craft the screenplay for Marty Supreme. Inspired by the autobiography of Marty Reisman, an eccentric table tennis player, they bring to life Marty Mauser, a hustler with exceptional talent for the sport.

In the words of Héroes del Silencio, Timothée Chalamet, in the role of Marty Mauser, is the perfect spark. Everything this Marty touches ignites with extraordinary vigor. Chalamet delivers what may be the finest performance of his young career. It is impossible not to loathe a character who knows no limits, yet equally inevitable to find ourselves rooting for him to achieve his goal. Alongside Chalamet is a brilliant ensemble cast, populated by characters equally unhinged on an ethical level. Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), a veteran actress who becomes passionately involved with Marty, and Rachel (Odessa A’zion), Marty’s neighbor, who is unfaithful to be with him, yet is far from an innocent victim.

Chaos is the fuel that powers Marty Supreme. Its cinematography and music merge seamlessly to take us on a delirious journey through 1950s New York, recreated with impeccable production design. Black comedy that flirts with tragedy blends with a sports drama that leaves room for moments of epic grandeur. Marty is the perfect antihero, a common man living on a knife’s edge, utterly unrepentant about breaking the rules to reach his goal.

Josh Safdie achieves an exciting, entertaining, and deeply uncomfortable film that nonetheless explores the depths of the human soul with seriousness. The staircase to hell that Marty descends confronts us time and again with complex moral dilemmas, urging us to find some justification that allows us to stand in his corner and cheer him on toward a final victory that comes at a devastating cost.