Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie, 2025, USA/Finland)

Marty Supreme is the latest effort from Josh Safdie, absent the collaboration he has been having with his brother, Benny, for over a decade. Both brothers struck it out on their own this year, and Josh seems to have come out on top, with Marty surpassing Benny’s Smashing Machine both critically and commercially. A period piece about ping pong didn’t seem like an obvious commercial sell, but add Timothee Chalamet into the mix, and you have something. Marty is a curious film in that it is a period piece, but it feels more like an 80s sports movie showing the 1950s than a 50s period piece. This is demonstrated through the use of constant 80s songs, as well as Daniel Lopatin’s excellent synth-based score, which has many echoes of music from the later Rocky films.

The film is thus a mirror of a mirror, and this kind of pastiche quality is also found in the film’s casting. As with the Safdies’ past efforts, the casting here is a mix of big star power, total unknowns, unusual character actors, and forgotten but familiar faces. Like Tarantino, they have a knack for resurrecting box office legends - in this case, Gwyneth Paltrow, who is one of the highlights of the film, giving a meta-performance of an actress past her prime.

The sports moments of Marty are its strongest. The film’s chaotic mid-section is to be expected given that this is a Safdie film, but one wishes he had taken a more conventional approach here. The chaos is entertaining, but there is actually a great more conventional sports film buried in the films 2.5 hour runtime. While Marty is not perfect, its ambition and its great moments make it worthy of appreciation. The music and soundtrack are probably the best of 2025 as well.

7/10