In a cinematic gamble set to dominate awards season, Timothée Chalamet delivers what may be his most brazenly unlikeable performance yet in Marty Supreme, a film that is anything but a standard sports biopic.
A Force of Nature, and a Colossal Arsehole
Directed and co-written by Josh Safdie, the film is a white-knuckle ride through the life of aspiring ping-pong champion Marty Mauser, loosely based on US player Marty Reisman. From the outset, it's clear this is not a tale of wholesome sporting triumph. Instead, Chalamet's Marty is a force of nature, a character of mind-boggling energy and staggering offensiveness, whose journey is propelled entirely by the actor's exhaustingly good performance.
The film's synopsis states Marty "goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness", a phrase that takes on a grimly literal meaning as his story unfolds. So driven is he to become world champion that he lies, steals from loved ones, and uses people with chilling callousness, several times almost getting people killed—including the woman pregnant with his child.
Crossing the Line: Shocking Remarks in a Post-War World
What sets Marty's offensiveness apart is its day-to-day, interpersonal cruelty, punctuated by moments of genuinely shocking verbal brutality. The film is set in 1952, mere years after the Holocaust and World War Two, a context that makes two particular remarks land with horrific impact.
Before facing a Jewish former champion and friend, Bela Kletzki (Géza Röhrig), Marty tells journalists: "I’m going to do to him what Auschwitz couldn’t – I’m going to finish the job." He later justifies this by claiming his own Jewish heritage permits the comment.
In another scene, while boasting about facing Japanese world champion Endo (Koto Kawaguchi), he tells a man who just revealed his son was killed in the Pacific: "If it’s any consolation, I’ll be dropping a third nuclear bomb on Japan." These lines, delivered with Chalamet's chaotic charisma, are designed to make audiences gasp.
The Audacity of the Underdog and the Path to Oscar
Despite his reprehensible behaviour, the film suggests viewers might secretly admire the raw audacity of this underdog. A curious, almost endearing tic sees him end several dramatic confrontations with a hastily uttered "love you," though it's debatable if Marty knows what love truly means.
This role represents years of preparation for Chalamet, who practised on a portable table tennis table on the sets of Wonka, Dune: Part Two, and even took it to the Cannes Film Festival. His commitment mirrors the character's own obsessive pursuit of greatness—a theme Chalamet himself touched upon when accepting a SAG Award earlier this year, stating his desire to be "one of the greats."
Having seen Marty Supreme, that awards speech now reads as a telling precursor to this role. Chalamet's transformative, boundary-pushing work is almost certain to secure him his third Best Actor Oscar nomination, proving that sometimes, the most unforgettable characters are also the hardest to like.
Marty Supreme releases in US cinemas on Christmas Day and in UK cinemas on December 26.
