As evidenced by its mentioning in my Anaconda review, I was absolutely stoked to make Marty Supreme my final theater visit of 2025, and I was only a bit worried that my uber-high expectations may not be completely met. While I haven’t decided on a rating for this film at the start of my review, I do know that Marty Supreme definitely met my expectations, and it’s easily one of the best films of 2025.

First and foremost, Timothée Chalamet was outstanding as the titular Marty, and his performance was easily the best of the year, not to mention a potential career-best as well. The role demanded so much, not just physically, but emotionally as well, and Chalamet met those demands in every scene. Even with a bunch of solid side characters (including a couple non-actors that really came to play), Chalamet made this a one-man show, and he is every bit deserving of his first Oscar (of many). In a very Wolf of Wall Street-kind of way, Chalamet’s Marty was so terrible but impossible to root against, and it made for a super fun and engaging story. Side note: I’ve loved the confidence that he’s showing in interviews; that athlete mentality is absolutely intoxicating in the film world.

Much like Timmy, the story of Marty Supreme was more than meets the eye. I wasn’t prepared for the high-octane, unpredictable thriller that this film became, but I loved it. Having also seen Uncut Gems, Josh Safdie possesses an obvious talent for writing anxiety-inducing movies; I was on the edge of my seat—in a dang ping-pong movie!—for the entire runtime. There were so many surprising turns in the story, but they each crazily served the same purpose: to demonstrate that the pursuit of greatness comes with total sacrifice, be it people, material possessions, pride and dignity, or relationships. That’s probably a big reason that Chalamet has been so vocal about the power of this movie: a man openly chasing greatness. It’s about him.

I already mentioned how Josh Safdie penned a stressfully satisfying screenplay, but he had the sauce in so many areas. This was such an engagingly shot sports movie, and the way that the cinematography paired with Daniel Lopatin’s score was just perfect. I’ve only heard a few of Lopatin’s scores, but that man cooked here. The frantic, bombastic score was reminiscent of Challengers and One Battle After Another in the best ways, and I’d bet Lopatin starts getting some non-Safdie work in the future. I also thought the sound design was superb, with moments that got so loud and claustrophobic that I felt like the theater was shaking. The feeling was electric!

Marty Supreme was a spectacle in the truest sense of the word because all of these different pieces came together so perfectly. From stellar performances from seasoned vets and non-actors alike, to bold direction, sound, and scoring, to a bonkers story that gave me ping pong ball-level whiplash, Marty Supreme has earned its spot at the Best Picture table. Hell, it’s at all the tables: Best Actor, Best Original Score, Sound, Screenplay, the list goes on. Now having written this review, my rating for this movie seems pretty clear. I’ll need as many stars as there are on those stellar orange spheres, plus two more: one for Josh and one for Timmy. Catch me at the theater injecting this into my veins after the New Year.