If you’ve spent even the smallest amount of time online in the past few months, you’ve seen Timothee Chalamet’s nonstop promotion of his latest blockbuster, “Marty Supreme.” The movie follows Marty Mauser, a ping-pong player trying to become a world champion, and is based on real table tennis legend Marty Reisman. Set in 1950s New York, it follows Mauser’s journey from nobody to the biggest player in the world, and then right back down to the bottom. 

I had high hopes for this movie, given that I’m a big fan of Chalamet’s work and I saw it had shining reviews, with many sources calling it the movie of the year. And after watching it I can confirm — this movie is pretty great. 

The most impressive thing about this film to me is the atmosphere — it truly feels like walking 70 years into the past. Everything from the dialogue to the buildings to the clothing feels remarkably authentic, and it’s refreshing just to let yourself get lost in the visuals. The acting is also top-notch, most surprisingly from Tyler the Creator — I expected him to just have a small cameo, but he gets a lot of screen time and does a great job for a first time actor. Timothee also does a fantastic job as expected, as does Odessa A’zion as Rachel, his girlfriend. 

I also love Marty as a character, and I think the line he walks between complete jerk and likable underdog is really impressive. He’s someone you root both for and against, and I really enjoyed seeing him subtly grow throughout the movie and (spoiler warning) eventually accept his role as a father. 

With all of that being said, there’s also some pretty huge flaws holding the movie back in my opinion. For one, this movie is absolutely insane. 

There are so many branching storylines and subplots going on that it got difficult to keep track of. While all of the individual plotlines were interesting, the fact that they were all occurring right after another made the movie feel kind of unwieldy, and I would’ve preferred a more straightforward story. However, I do think that viewers that enjoy constant action and don’t mind a rollercoaster of a film will enjoy this movie more, so this is less of a critique of the film and more just something that wasn’t my taste. 

I also thought the ending wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been. Like he’s been through hell and back for this opportunity to go to Japan, and all he gets out of it is a win in a meaningless consolation match? I understand that it’s unrealistic to expect a picturesque happy ending, but it just doesn’t really feel that satisfying and it feels like the movie rushes to a close despite its two and a half hour runtime. And the only scene we see of him back home is him seeing his son for 30 seconds? 

It reads like the director tried to resolve his story as both an athlete and a person at the same time, but instead did both pretty poorly and left the movie in a strange spot. 

Additionally, I think the first scene is not only pretty freaky but also a huge missed opportunity. Why does Marty have to be the father? In my opinion, it would’ve been more interesting if we didn’t know he was the dad, and we had to see if he would step up even if he wasn’t expected to. 

Even though there are clearly some things I didn’t like about “Marty Supreme,” it was still an absolute blast to watch. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a scrappy underdog story and legitimately incredible cinematography. I’d rate it a solid 8/10, and it’s pretty easily one of the best films of 2025.