Marty Supreme (2025) Review

What are we without dreams?

Aspirations shape heading in life, the extent to which completion is sought even more-so. Goals come in various sizes, from occupations to knowledge to feats; And their carriers too come varied, from mere dreamers to hardcore devotees. Marty Supreme (2025) explores such a character, on one side a talented table tennis athlete living in 50s NYC; On the other a raging narcissist and manipulative asshole. As a dark comedy, there are few honorable characters in the film, and the audience is left wondering who they should be rooting for in a constant add-to-action thriller piece that ups the ante at every turn.

Protagonist Marty consistently manipulates characters to elicit resources all for one purpose: To become the world's greatest table tennis player. From his childhood lover to the rich business owner, he takes great enjoyment in getting under people's skin while pushing closer to his goals. Throughout the movie its clear he cares little for others, prioritizing his own dream above all when necessary. This is not to mean he is a stateless psychopath--he is shown numerous times engaging in activities for the sake of others, even if forced. I felt it was a good addition regardless, as a key element of portraying this narcissistic character is also subtly developing his own self image--to Marty there's nothing wrong with himself, only with those who can't respect and support his vision.

An important turn in the movie is at the very end where he goes back to find Rachel and breaks down seeing his newborn for the first time (despite denouncing ownership and reducing Rachel's self worth in earlier scenes). On one side, we would see this as him finding purpose in life and letting things catch back up to him. The entire movie is him running way from one escapade after another in a mounting series of wilder and wilder curves that he only barely escapes with his silver tongue and unrelenting use of "friends" and other resources. But in the climax, he hits a wall he cannot surpass: Despite making it to Tokyo, despite overcoming everything to this point he simply will not be competing in the tournament and is putting himself down in the act with Endo for nothing. This humiliation goes against everything in this character, prompting the final "real" game against his rival. This breakdown of his aspirations could be seen as him coming back to reality--He may not be the greatest table tennis player in the world tournament, but he hit the victory his ego desired: beating his rival. All this to say, he cries due to his genuine connection with the situation and perhaps a shift in his character towards adopting real responsibility in life.

On the other hand, he has shown little to no improvement in character throughout most of the plot--why the sudden shift at the end? More likely, as a narcissist he simply believes he is capable of adopting this responsibility and sees himself positively for "stepping up" for Rachel. There may be genuine feelings of connection here, everything is still ultimately a stepping stone for himself. A key element of this is how his perception of Rachel shifts during the Moses reclamation scene: As the firefight breaks out and people drop, Rachel (even while shot) urgently prioritizes grabbing the prize money (which she herself was trying to scheme), as she knows the importance to Marty (the importance of which was supplied as Marty demeaned her for how much she makes and her own direction in life). By helping him accomplish this, Marty begins to see her as someone who actually supports not him but his dream, which is all he truly cares about. This elevates her importance in his life, not due to her qualities but due to her willingness to assist him unconditionally.

Either way is a bit strong in stance, and the answer lies somewhere in between these (and other) sides, interpretation, and details revealed only with further viewings.

This review definitely hones in on the protagonist, but there's not shortage of interesting points in this film: From the various characters to the motif of control to the stark contrast between the arrogant Marty and the kinder Béla (including the honey scene) to the idea of the orange ping pong ball, and much more… Another great note was the casting, which had a fun slew of personalities from acting to music to Shark Tank to a feel good reddit post about a man with a “golden voice.”

Regardless, Marty Supreme is an unconventional yet gripping film that brings you on an absurd journey from start to finish--leaving you wondering what you just watched, what was the point of anything, and how you can be the best at something all at once as you leave the theatre.