Marty Supreme from Josh Safdie, co-creator of “Uncut Gems” and “Good Time” with Adam Sandler and Robert Pattinson respectively, has been on my most anticipated films list for a long time alongside 2025 standout One Battle After Another. Starring Timothée Chalamet, one of my favorite actors, it has gained a lot of social media attention with its relentless and unconventional promotional campaign, including celebrity endorsements (Frank Ocean, Tom Brady), merchandising (the marty supreme jacket/pants), and publicity stunts (Timothee Chalamet song with Esdeekid, marketing video skit). This 24/7 internet exposure storm left many wondering if the film could possibly live up to its own hype. In my opinion it exceeds it.

The all-star cast surrounding Chalamet (“Dune,” “Bones and All”) includes timeless starlets like Gwyneth Paltrow (“Iron Man,” “Se7en”) and Fran Drescher (“The Nanny,” “Saturday Night Fever”). It also includes rising actors in the business like Odessa A’zion (“I Love LA”) and Luke Manley (“No Need to Worry”). But, most excitingly, and a staple of Safdie’s movies, are the inclusion of non actors completely new to the silver screen like Tyler Okonma (commonly referred to by the stage name Tyler, The Creator) and Kevin O’Leary (businessman famous for “Shark Tank”).

A sharp and witty picture that sprints way faster than its three-hour runtime would make it seem, “Marty Supreme” is a film that stocks heavily in its performances to work. Like Safdie’s other work on “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems,” our point of view character is less than a paragon. The conniving yet ambitious Marty Mauser lies, manipulates, annoys and sometimes charms his way through life stopping at nothing to realize his dream of national sport stardom.

This would seem like a character that is impossible to like or sympathize with, but Chalamet plays him with such boyish wit and charisma you can’t possibly hate him. Like Sandler in “Uncut Gems,” this is a career-defining performance for Chalamet and one that is my pick for best actor this year. It is a character and a range of emotions that Chalamet has been preparing for his entire career, one that was made for him.

It combines the confidence of Paul Atreides with the charm of Elio Perlman and the intense genius of Bob Dylan, making for a truly special viewing experience. Gwyneth Paltrow, returning to the theaters in a main role after nearly six years away, acts like she never left. She plays Kay Stone, a stable and at times tragic presence for the film, who helps to offset Marty’s incessant immature antics and is played perfectly by the veteran actress.

Another counterpart to Marty is his childhood friend Rachel Mizler played by up-and coming actress Odessa A’zion in what I predict will be a landmark role for her career going forward. She is just as delusional and intelligent as our main character with a tinge of innocent devotion that makes you wish her the best and by extension Marty as well.

Luke Manley, a New York native, is fresh off Seventh Avenue after being discovered in a viral video at a Knicks playoff win. This is his first major role in anything and you would never guess it as he plays another mostly innocent guy caught up in Marty’s schemes. He breaks up the stressful miasma that covers most of the film with humor and relatability.

In what many would call a stunt casting, businessman and reality TV star Kevin O’Leary plays the adversarial ink executive Milton Rockwell. In my opinion, it is a much better performance than it had any right to be. O’Leary is the perfect villain, perhaps pulling on his own experience as a ruthless capitalist to play an even more ruthless if not slightly understandable (given Marty’s actions) industrialist.

However, the real standout in this film besides the lead was Tyler, The Creator. Tyler, playing another hustler friend of Marty’s, is so funny and so captivating on screen you wonder why he ever left his days of sketch comedy. His chemistry with Chalamet is so palpable and tactile you can see how they’ve become fast friends on the press tour for the film. One criticism I have is that Tyler does not attempt to hide his California accent while playing a New Yorker, but he is so entertaining on screen and the accent is such an iconic part of his brand as a musician I am willing to overlook it.

Taking place in the ’50s in New York City, Josh Safdie paid close attention to the stylistic and geographical details of the period. Bringing on the iconic and talented Jack Fisk for production design and bringing back frequent collaborator Miyako Bellizzi for costumes. The level of dedication on display in the film cannot be exaggerated. Thousands of extras tailored head to toe in period costuming, full recreations of midcentury lower east side tenements and sleek post-war gymnasiums, even reconstructions of B52 bomber planes and Japanese gardens.

The movie wears 1952 on its sleeve, which pairs surprisingly well with the ’80s-inspired score and modern style of dialogue. With this pairing, we get a look at all sides of American culture through Marty and his dreams. The cinematography, headed by DP and industry legend Darius Khondji, is heavily inspired by the dramatic sporting style used in films like “Moneyball,” as well as the usual close up claustrophobic flourishes that Safdie is known for. Similar in many ways to its 2025 running mate, “One Battle After Another,” “Marty Supreme” prioritizes kinetic and movement based blocking and staging. Characters are constantly running, pacing and ping-ponging across the frame daring the audience to try and keep up. It makes for a chaotic yet engaging visual experience.

“Marty Supreme” on paper is a simple movie but under the hood it has a lot to say. The American Dream, masculinity, nature of success, and the Jewish experience are all topics addressed within the 150 minutes you will spend in the theater. Both director Josh Safdie and actors Chalamet, Paltrow, A’zion and Drescher are Jewish and they bring that representation to the forefront on screen.

Taking place in the working class neighborhood of lower east side Manhattan, you see oneg delis and mezuzah-laden brownstones. Marty’s heritage, while not explicitly a part of the main plot, helps immensely to understand the economic and cultural background influencing his decisions. Being Jewish abroad less than a decade removed from the Holocaust, Marty wants so desperately to be like the WASPs that dominate the cultural institutions of his world. He wants to be great enough to pull his mother out of the slums and make a name for himself and his people in what he believes to be the next big thing.

There’s a moment where Marty returns from tour and brings back a piece of the great pyramid to his mother, saying to her “See? We built that.” It was inspired by a story from Safdie’s personal life where he and a friend cut down a piece of barbed wire from the Dachau concentration camp as a souvenir. Both stories serve as a moment of reclamation and pride and remembering one’s history and finding strength in that.

Marty receives a fair amount of antisemitic abuse within the film, most glaringly at the hands of primary antagonist Milton Rockwell, who holds contempt for extermination camp survivors and humiliates Marty whenever possible. This comes to a head in the final act where after convincing Marty to intentionally lose a match, he makes the loser kiss a pig. Of course, this was a personal jab at Marty’s Jewish heritage – a pig being the dirtiest animal in Kosher law.

This scene in my opinion is the most important for Marty and the movie as a whole. It is where Marty is shown that the elites he spends his life kowtowing and performing for will never accept him no matter what he does or how hard he works. In a break from the cynicism of Safdie’s earlier work, however, Marty wins his final match and (somewhat) keeps his self respect at the cost of his career advancement. It explores the value of being who you are with or without fame and fortune.

In summary, “Marty Supreme” is a heart pounding, thought provoking and wildly engaging time at the cinema and is absolutely worth your time and money.