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I came to realize today that there has been an underlying pattern within the screenings I have attended at the Santa Barbara Film Festival this year, it being that a significant fraction of the films have been sports dramas. This is not typically a subgenre I choose<\/em> to indulge in, and for most of the films I went into the theater rooms completely unknowing of what their plots were at all. I did however, go into <\/span>Marty Supreme <\/span><\/i>knowing exactly what to expect, mostly due to the extensive work of the film’s marketing team. Despite all of the hype created for this project, I was not particularly \u201chyped\u201d by any of its generic material, as I already understood from the very beginning what the story was going to be: Equally as proud as our leading man, Marty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The director, Josh Safdie, along with his brother and frequent collaborator, Benny Safdie, have established a reputation in the film industry for mastering the art of anarchy in their films, which has naturally become a staple in all of their projects. Films like 2017\u2019s <\/span>Good Time<\/span><\/i>, or 2019\u2019s <\/span>Uncut Gems<\/span><\/i> are prime examples of the brother\u2019s ability to effectively pair high-tension scenarios with emotional, and vulnerable moments. This time, Josh Safdie is credited alone on the feature, marking <\/span>Marty Supreme <\/span><\/i>as the first official film in his solo-career filmography since splitting with his brother in 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For his solo-career debut, Safdie chose Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet to lead the film as Marty Mauser, a self-righteous and heavily driven Jewish New Yorker who works as a shoe salesman but truly desires to fulfill his dreams of being the best table tennis player. The thing is, Marty already believes he is the best, his ego provoking him to act in the opportunistic, machiavellian ways that he does. Chalamet\u2019s face is the very first thing we as the audience see, immediately showcasing Marty as the sole focus of the story about to unfold. A black screen then flashes, \u201cNew York 1952\u201d in big white letters establishing the setting. This first scene, taking place in the shoe shop Marty works at, couldn\u2019t be confused for any other filmmakers work besides Safdie\u2019s \u2014 chaos ensuing without a second to spare as the background noise blends with the main dialogue, the voices loud and intense in tone, all assisted by fast paced editing and harsh, headachy, lighting. The setting is anxiety inducing, and anything but pleasant to our main character, as he prioritizes hooking up with childhood friend Rachel Mizler (performed by Odessa A\u2019zion), in the storage room over taking a promotion from his boss (and uncle) Murray. After this moment of sexual impulsivity is over, the opening credits are executed in a way that I never thought that I would ever see: to a surreal sequence of sperm swimming towards the egg, fertilizing it, and the fertilized egg morphing into a ping pong ball all while \u201cForever Young\u201d by Alphaville, a synthy 80\u2019s pop song plays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Two hours and 20 something minutes of successive unfortunate events catalyzed by Marty\u2019s own avoidance of his faults begin after the credits, depicting exactly how he forces others into circumstances that are dangerous as well as mostly preventable. What is particularly frustrating about this, is that the film appears to want you to root for Marty, a person who simply devalues others to fuel his own importance \u2014 this specifically becomes clearer and clearer towards the end of the narrative. Stroking his \u201cgenius\u201d is what lights the fire of his personal motivation, exemplified by his determination to change table tennis, whether it be through new orange ping pong balls (a plot line that is not developed at all and purely for film marketing, might I add), or dominating every game, tournament, or championship he attends. As for these said matches, they are formatted the same as most sports dramas \u2014 big text appears naming the event, high-key lighting is created to spotlight the characters, and a combination of long shots, close ups, and insert shots are used, all while intense music plays in the background \u2014 and after each game, you can only expect to see another with slightly higher stakes until the climax,\u00a0 or the ultimate championship, is reached. Besides the games, I would argue that the cinematography of the film is extremely visually pleasing while still stimulating, but eye candy can only take one so far when the primary goal of the film is to be a character study. And interestingly enough, the character\u2019s and performances I wanted to be studied the most were Rachel and Wally, both of which were just used as mere devices for Marty\u2019s nonexistent development through his transition from a narcissist to a father (which doesn’t actually imply any growth or progression in character).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are a multitude of scenes throughout this film that will most definitely be solidified as \u201ccinematic gold\u201d in the years to come, whether it be the gas station explosion, the descent through the floor via bath tub, the instance of paddle spanking, or of course the ending scene where Marty \u201caccepts\u201d all of what he is in the hospital (to put it simply). Sure, great acting (minus the Kevin O’Leary propaganda) is demonstrated in each unique moment, but that doesn\u2019t change the fact that all of these scenes lack the dedication to proper themes \u2014 themes about humility, exposing oneself to the consequences of your faults, embracing the discomfort of admission\u2026the list goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I also have my own bone to pick with the marketing A24 has done to promote this movie, such as choosing to portray Marty as \u201ccool\u201d or as another man to add to the \u201ci\u2019m literally him\u201d list across social media’s manosphere, instead of as an example of society’s heteronormative structure that enforces plus enables male aggression and egocentrism. Additionally, a bad taste is left in my mouth regarding the creative choice to tell the story (one heavily involving topics like the Holocaust, racism, and war trauma at that) in a “fun,” contemporary fashion all while the plot is placed during a time where life wasn\u2019t \u201cfun\u201d for the majority of\u00a0 people, which isn\u2019t <\/span>effectively<\/span><\/i> acknowledged at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Method acting and trendy marketing tactics are such prominent concepts in our media that they are often prioritized instead of the actual art of the film, and I believe <\/span>Marty Supreme<\/span><\/i> is a product of this recent change in the industry that will facilitate this shift\u2019s continuation. So to be concise in my stance on <\/span>Marty Supreme<\/span><\/i>, though it was made with quality, that in itself does not equate to the artistry and intention that is required in creating a film that is meaningful without direct intention to be such \u2014 as in the end, capitalism and consumerism are not characteristics of art, but when they become considered as such is when we have lost the idea of creating instead of simply producing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reviewed by Hanna Ward. Viewed at the SBIFF. I came to realize today that there has been an underlying pattern within the screenings I have attended at the Santa Barbara Film Festival this year, it being that a significant fraction of the films have been sports dramas. This is not typically a subgenre I choose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films","category-santa-barbara-film-festival-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/249155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48811"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49062,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48811\/revisions\/49062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}