Extra: Marty Supreme (2025)

What began with great enthusiasm as a project ended up being abandoned because—well, life. Still, I fully intend to keep going, especially now that I’ve gotten back into the rhythm of watching films again. I’m not yet fully caught up with the viewing order, so I’m picking the project back up with Marty Supreme, which was the last A24 film I watched. Below are some notes I initially wrote for myself on Letterboxd and then expanded on over the following days (and that I might expand later after another rewatch).

Marty Supreme is intense, loud, stressful, chaotic, shocking, and, at times, uncomfortable. Yet you can’t stop staring at the screen, always wanting more. One of my favorite things about the film is how its rhythm makes you physically feel and embody the urgency and anxiety driving Marty toward the championship. And I think that’s ultimately what stayed with me the most. The film grabs you and never lets go. Just when you think you might get a break, BAM, you’re hit with car crashes, bathtubs falling from buildings, and the most unbelievable, least expected events imaginable. And honestly, that feels a lot like life itself: a constant succession of blows, with no room for comic relief or moments of calm. Here, that sensation is taken to the extreme, because Marty’s life is intense to the core.

    When Marty meets Gwyneth’s character, he tells her that, in a way, he’s a performer, just like her. And oh boy, that’s only the beginning of the legend he becomes. This is where you can really spiral into the idea that we are all performers in what we do, playing whatever role is necessary to achieve what we want. In this sense, the film speaks to the myth of greatness and the obsession with being the absolute best. I think Timothée Chalamet took that idea straight to the heart, because this is the best we’ve seen of him to date.

    As a side note, having also watched The Smashing Machine this year, it’s fascinating to look back at Uncut Gems and fully grasp which parts of that film represent each of the Safdie brothers.

Dir. Josh Safdie

Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher