A limited-edition ’90s-style branded jacket, obnoxious orange ping pong balls and a remix with U.K.-based rapper EsDeeKid. These are only a few of the marketing tactics that fueled a buzz on social media, leading curious audiences to production company A24’s newest film, “Marty Supreme.”
The extensive marketing campaign included vibrant orange clothing, lead actor Timothée Chalamet standing atop the Vegas Sphere and a “leaked” Zoom meeting.
But does the movie live up to the hype? We say yes.
“Marty Supreme” is the company’s highest-grossing film, achieving almost $150 million globally according to Variety Magazine, along with Chalamet winning his first Golden Globe, for Best Male Actor in a Musical/Comedy Motion Picture. Additionally, the film received nine Academy Award nominations for the 2026 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director (Josh Safdie), Best Actor (Timothée Chalamet), Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Film Editing. Needless to say, it’s a massive success at the box office.
The movie is in the sports and drama genres, with plenty of action packed into its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. The audience follows shoe salesman Marty Mauser (Chalamet) as he works to become the greatest table tennis player in the world. All odds seem to be against Mauser when he has no money to travel to the Table Tennis World Championship, but he is determined to hustle his way there — no matter the cost.
Although focusing on the unstable life of a professional table tennis player, the film itself has only a few ping pong scenes sprinkled throughout. The majority of scenes are based around Mauser’s deep obsession and ambition for the glorious title of world champion, and how this obsession gets him into seemingly impossible situations, where the solution is often at the expense of others in his life.
Chalamet plays an incredibly convincing Mauser — a character who is similar to himself in many ways. Chalamet is a charismatic rising-star Jewish actor from New York cast as a charismatic rising-star Jewish athlete from New York, and Chalamet’s own passion transfers into Mauser’s character.
Casting an actor with a similar story to their character is a motif throughout the rest of the cast as well:
Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays Kay Stone, a retired actress working on making a comeback with a theater performance, makes her own return to acting in feature films with this role. Meanwhile, Kevin O’Leary, a centimillionaire on the reality entrepreneur show “Shark Tank,” plays the billionaire antagonist Milton Rockwell, Stone’s husband. Both of these actors play captivating and well-suited roles that help the film come to life not only through action but through a feeling of realism.
Additionally, Koto Kawaguchi, a professional deaf table tennis player who has never acted in anything prior to the film, plays Mauser’s rival — Koto Endo. The casting takes method acting to the next level, using authenticity as a tool to make the films acting feel all the more real.
Although the cast’s acting is engaging, not every aspect of the film accomplishes the same level of quality. Much of the setting development in both music and language is not accurate to the time period of the 1950s. Most of the soundtrack is comprised of ’80s music, and at many points characters use language that seems too modern for the ’50s setting of the movie. At one point, Mauser yells, “Are you for real?” a phrase we perceived as comically 21st century.
Despite the inconsistencies in realism, “Marty Supreme” still accomplishes its purpose. The film isn’t meant to be a period piece, but rather a cautionary tale of how ambition can turn into obsession and hubris. No one close to Mauser makes it out without being impacted in one way or another, typically negatively, by his obsession.
If you’re looking for a film that has a multitude of complex storylines, plot twists and some of Chalamet’s best acting, “Marty Supreme” is a film we recommend.
“Marty Supreme”
2 hours, 30 minutes
Rated R for language, sexual content, some violent content/bloody images and nudity
Directed by John Safdie
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary and Tyler Okonma
