According to lead actor Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme is about “sacrifice in pursuit of a dream.” The film takes this simple, relatable idea and develops it into a damning portrayal of the kind of sacrifice capitalism demands of people. It’s also a movie that, in itself, shows what art can achieve when people sacrifice for its creation.

Sacrifice

Marty Mauser is a talented and ambitious table tennis player set on climbing to the top of the international rankings. He hits a snag at the 1952 British Open, losing the final to Japan’s Koto Endo, played by real life table tennis star Koto Kawaguchi.

Will Marty avenge himself against Koto in a World Championship rematch? That’s beside the point. In a naïve, alternate version of Marty Supreme, we would follow Marty as he sharpens his skills to combat Endo’s faster style of play.

But director Josh Safdie leaves the sports-movie boilerplate in the background. Marty will train up and beat Endo—if only he can get the chance to play him. Marty may have a dream, but he doesn’t have the money to get to the World Championship.

He works an honest job to pay his way, only to be cheated out of his salary by his uncle who does not support his “ping-pong mishegoss.” Marty turns to the seedy underbelly of New York City, looking for cash. He feeds off its energy, even as it threatens to drown him. But it can bring him no closer to a shot at success than his day job in the respectable world.

Marty humbles himself. He performs as the half-time act for the Harlem Globetrotters—an insult to all the great athletes involved. He pays the highest price in his personal relationships, turning into a monster with his loved ones.

The vampire

None of it is enough. Marty is powerless. His dream will live or die on the whim of a wealthy businessman named Milton Rockwell.

Marty and Rockwell’s relationship seems to start on an equal footing. They rub shoulders at the Ritz and Marty tries to talk business. Rockwell stares back silently. When they cross paths again, Rockwell makes Marty an insulting job offer. Marty refuses on principle; he won’t let Rockwell get the upper hand.

But principles can’t buy Marty a flight to the competition, so ultimately, Rockwell holds all of the cards. In contrast to Rockwell’s idle life, Marty has done nothing but struggle and sacrifice. His reward is the privilege of kneeling and begging at Rockwell’s feet.

Wasted potential

Rockwell is played by real-life billionaire businessman Kevin O’Leary, adding an interesting layer to his expressions of shock and delight as he tangles with Marty.

O’Leary and Kawaguchi are among several non-actors who give brilliant performances. It’s a reflection of the immense talent that exists all around us. There are Marty Mausers everywhere.

Film is an art form well-positioned to capture this. It’s an inherently collaborative medium and relatively easy to begin engaging with without prior experience. But under capitalism film is a business.

It’s not hard to map Marty’s story onto that of the artists who were involved in the creation of Marty Supreme. Like all artists, they have a talent to develop and share, but under capitalism, artistic pursuit is twisted into a quest for money, leaving artists at the mercy of the Rockwells of the world.

Art withers in the grasp of the capitalists who are a tiny portion of humanity with a tenuous grasp on what it is to be human. Meanwhile, art is a reflection of the collective human experience—and a skilled artist can capture this.

There is a great moment when the intensity of a table tennis match takes over the form of the film itself. The sports announcer who has been commentating in the background suddenly appears not just on screen, but speaking directly into the camera. The line snaps between the audience watching Marty play in 1952 and the audience watching the film in 2026.

It’s of no importance that, unless you speak Japanese, you can’t understand what is being said. What this man feels is crystal clear. It’s what you feel too. It’s something he couldn’t say to you in a language you both speak. It’s something communicated through a human touch and not according to the “rules” of filmmaking. It’s the celebration of sacrifice in pursuit of a dream.