Josh Safdie’s latest film, Marty Supreme, shocked the New York Film Festival on Monday with a surprise world premiere, which earned rave reviews from attendees.
The sports comedy-drama follows Timothée Chalamet as professional table tennis player Marty Mauser, who won the US men’s singles championships in 1958 and 1960.
“Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness,” an official synopsis reads.
On Monday, Safdie was joined Chalamet and fellow cast members, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler Okonma (Tyler, the Creator) and Odessa A’zion. Fran Drescher and Abel Ferrara also star but were not in attendance.
“This movie — in many ways, beyond being about Marty Mauser — is a love letter to New York,” Chalamet said at the screening, according to Variety.
“I went to high school down the street,” he added, referring to LaGuardia High School. “This is f***ing awesome to be here.”
Ahead of the film’s official release on December 25 and any official reviews, the first reactions to the film flooded X last night, heaping praise on Chalamet’s performance.
“Timothée Chalamet, speaking a mile a minute with a hyperactive mind and unshakable confidence, throws himself into the role with total commitment, emotionally and physically, crescendoing in a climatic [sic] moment that had the audience standing on their feet and cheering,” wrote Next Best Picture Editor-In-Chief Matt Neglia.
“The result is a performance and a film that feels as exhilarating, surprising, and nerve-shredding as anything Safdie has ever directed.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Canfield called it Chalamet’s “career-best performance” while Diego Andaluz similarly determined it “the performance of a lifetime.”
Inverse’s Senior Entertainment Editor Hoai-Tran Bui wrote: “To call this a sports movie isn’t enough, this is a manic, madcap odyssey that is as exhilarating as it’s exhausting. Timothee’s star power is so bright & undeniable that it’s basically a supernova.”
IndieWire Editor at Large Anne Thompson predicted Oscar glory for the actor, writing: “Josh Safdie going solo delivers a wild rush of nonstop adrenaline much like Uncut Gems; Timothée Chalamet’s no-holds-barred performance could be his Wolf of Wall Street. He’ll be nominated for sure.”
Marty Supreme represents a big swing for A24, the arthouse studio behind Everything Everywhere All At Once, Moonlight and Euphoria on HBO. The film reportedly cost around $70 million, the most money A24 has ever thrown at a project.
It is also Safdie’s first solo work since his 2008 debut, The Pleasure of Being Robbed. His other films, including the critically acclaimed Good Time (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019), were co-directed with his brother Benny before they decided to pursue individual projects.
As fate would have it, Benny’s film The Smashing Machine, also produced and distributed by A24, has earned Oscar buzz for its star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson following a 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival this year.
Marty Supreme is scheduled for release on December 25 in the U.S. and January 1, 2026, in the U.K.
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