By skyforbes 
Metacritic: 88/100 (24 critics)
As with other movies, the scores are set to change as time passes. Meanwhile, I'll post some short reviews on the movie. It's structured like this: quote first, source second. Beware, some contain spoilers.
Not every thread is spun out into something narratively substantive — Marty’s idea of orange ping pong balls to stand out against white uniforms is a lot of buildup for one admittedly funny sight gag — but as a kinetic portrait of a life in perpetual motion, Marty Supreme is a wonder. Calling something “a wild ride” is one of the most hackneyed quote-whore favorites — see also: “What a ride!” “The thrill ride of the summer!” and “A nonstop rollercoaster ride!” — but for this wraparound sensory experience, it’s a neat fit.
–David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
While “Uncut Gems” starts in its hero’s asshole and ends in the back of his head, “Marty Supreme” is a lot more open-ended. Marty Mauser is no less rapacious than Howard Ratner, but he’s gripped by a dream instead of an addiction, and while Safdie obviously gets off on following Marty deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of his own deranged vision quest, the real thrill of this movie — which accrues an immense emotional undertow by its final scenes — is in watching Marty tunnel out the other side. In watching him figure out, on his own naive terms, that “every man for himself” can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In watching him learn first-hand how easily the pursuit of success can become just another recipe for solipsism. The American Dream is just another slogan, and being the best salesman below 14th Street doesn’t protect Safdie’s protagonist from the possibility that he might also be the area’s biggest mark. Marty might like to think of himself as “the ultimate product of Hitler’s defeat,” but the greatness of this movie is in how Chalamet’s performance gradually sells us on the idea that he doesn’t have to be.
The movies have rarely given us such an entitled underdog, and it’s both mesmerizing and maddening to watch this arrogant table-tennis prodigy ricochet from high to low for nearly two and a half hours. In the defining performance of his still-burgeoning career, Timothée Chalamet — aka “Marty Supreme” — makes you want to believe in this instantly iconic character too … even if sometimes you also want to strangle him.
Marty Supreme is an amazing first solo directing credit for Josh Safdie that continues to build on the chaotic vibe that he and his brother have been honing since Heaven Knows What. If you’re a fan of previous Safdie brothers efforts, you won’t be disappointed. But thanks to a career-defining performance from Timothée Chalamet as the charismatic Marty Mauser, Marty Supreme will appeal to more than just the film and sports bros.
–Michael Calabro, IGN 9.0 "amazing"
This new film from Josh Safdie has the fanatical energy of a 149-minute ping pong rally carried out by a single player running round and round the table. It’s a marathon sprint of gonzo calamities and uproar, a sociopath-screwball nightmare like something by Mel Brooks – only in place of gags, there are detonations of bad taste, cinephile allusions, alpha cameos, frantic deal-making, racism and antisemitism, sentimental yearning and erotic adventures. It’s a farcical race against time where no one needs to eat or sleep.
–Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian: 5/5
What Safdie, and his co-writer, co-producer, and co-editor Ronald Bronstein have made is decidedly not a biopic but rather a fictionalized portrait of a ‘what makes Sammy run’ type of character from the lower east side of NY who scavengers for money – and yes happiness – in any way he knows how. With the perfect casting of Timothée Chalamet as its title star, you go along for this wild ride of a young man in a hurry, but sometimes his own worst enemy.
A film this bracing and original deserves something much more inventive. But Marty Supreme has such scope, ambition and humour that its flaws, as with those off-screen Timmy exploits, are easy to overlook.
–Caryn James, BBC: 4/5
This all makes for one rip-roaring film, but I suspect none of it would come together as well were it not for Chalamet, who is the main focus of virtually every scene, save for one or two moments. If you met someone like Marty in real life you might want to get as far away from them as possible, and yet Chalamet is so good at making this jerk likable that you're won over by his story — all of which leads to a shockingly emotional crescendo that packs a real punch. This is unquestionably the best performance of Timothée Chalamet's career, and "Marty Supreme" is one of the best movies of the year. I can't wait to watch it again.
–Chris Evangelista, Slash Film: 10/10
This makes Marty Supreme great entertainment, and the most convincing case yet that Chalamet is a real-deal star, capable of carrying a movie without the cultural context and memorable supporting turns of something like A Complete Unknown. Yet as the movie sprints through its After Hours-ish gauntlets, it sometimes feels like Safdie is more focused on clearing jaw-dropping hurdles than connecting these obstacle courses into a bigger picture.
–Jesse Hassenger, The A.V. Club: B+
So self-assured, yet so monstrous to those in his orbit, Marty feels like a nightmare version of the American dream, a suspicion bolstered by the film’s placement in the 1950s at a time when the US was ascendant after the Second World War. The character’s heedless pursuit of what he thinks is owed him represents the worst kind of “American exceptionalism” while perverting the familiar cinematic notion of the lovable sports underdog. And yet, we cannot take our eyes off of Chalamet, who makes Marty impossible to like but weirdly easy to follow on his twisted odyssey.
A reductive shorthand for “Marty Supreme” will be “Uncut Gems with ping pong,” and the two films do share a filmmaking language intended to shake viewers. Still, this movie is no mere echo of Safdie’s former collaboration with his brother. It is unlike anything released this year, a riveting study of a man who fully believes it when he says, “I have a purpose. You don’t. And if you think that’s some kind of blessing, it’s not.” “Marty Supreme” is a story of a guy burdened by how great he thinks he’s supposed to be. How very American.
–Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com: 4/4
In totality, though, Marty is more than just a monument to hubris at his worst and heroism at his best. Chalamet’s performance renders him as achingly human as the acne scars dotting his face. The actor matches Safdie’s filmmaking intensity, translating his bone-deep physical and psychological connection to Marty into a gritty show of live-wire emotionality.
–Marshall Shaffer, Slant: 4/4
PLOT
A ping pong drama set in New York City during the 1950s where up-and-coming table tennis star Marty Mauser goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.
DIRECTOR
Josh Safdie
WRITERS
Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
MUSIC
Daniel Lopatin
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji
EDITORS
Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
RELEASE DATE
December 25, 2025
RUNTIME
149 minutes
BUDGET
$60-$70 million
STARRING
-
Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser
-
Gwyneth Paltrow as Kay Stone
-
Odessa A'zion as Rachel Mizler
-
Kevin O'Leary as Milton Rockwell
-
Tyler Okonma as Wally
-
Abel Ferrara as Ezra Mishkin
-
Fran Drescher as Rebecca Mauser