I Got The Ticket For Free, and I Still Want My Money Back: Which 2025 Movie Was Actually Best-Picture Worthy, And Why It Definitely Wasn’t Marty Supreme.
Photo credit: Pinterest
The cast of Marty Supreme.
By: Maliyah London
If another movie about another annoying self-absorbed white guy getting “famous” and immediately becoming a disloyal, cheating weirdo who parades around ruining the lives and marriages of all the people around him, wins and gets nominated for best picture, I am canceling my AMC A-List subscription, never watching another biopic again, and deleting every single streaming app I own.
Okay, that may be a bit hyperbolic, and I do not mean to diminish the talents of the Safdie brothers or the infamous Timothee Chalamet, yes, he is an amazing actor, but no, this was not an amazing movie.
I’m saying this as someone who consumes media like candy, having seen over 350+ movies and 47 TV shows in the year 2025. I have a LOT of time on my hands, so whether it's social, or a series, podcast, book, album, or film (specifically movies), I will always try to get my hand on whatever is new, and whatever is as hyped up as Marty Supreme (2025) was, and I will always have an option on it.
In my perfect world, Sorry Baby (2025), a film by Eva Victor, would have won, or at least been nominated for; Best Picture, Best Actress (Eva Victor), Best Supporting Actress (Naomi Ackie), Best Director (Eva Victor), Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, or even just Best Original Screenplay. Or literally anything at all. This movie was just as “Phenomenal” and "Bruisingly honest and bitingly funny” as Patrick Ryan with USA Today and Brian Tallercio described.
I watched this film at two o'clock in the morning on the first day my school let out for fall break, and then I watched it again nine hours later at eleven, and again that Friday. Permanently securing it a spot in my top 4 next to cult-classics like Gone Girl and Interstellar, before the movie was even over, and for context, I could barely sit through the first 25 minutes of Marty Supreme before I asked my friends if we could leave.
To me, Sorry Baby was perfect, in every single sense of the word, it was new and refreshing and the only director debut I have ever given 5 stars.
Photo credit: Pradt
A still of the 2025 film Sorry Baby, featuring Eva Victor on the left as Agnes and Naomi Ackie on the right as her best friend Lydie.
The picture above is from a Pradt piece on this movie: A Sorry Baby Review, as are most of the stills in this article, and it’s one I strongly suggest giving a look for a more in-depth review and analysis!
“Something bad happened to Agnes. But life goes on… for everyone around her at least.”
It follows Agnes, our main character, while she’s in grad school writing her thesis and, three years later, when she decides to become a professor at that same school. Filling the position and office of her former mentor. We bear witness to all of the ups and downs Agnes faces as she struggles with this “really bad thing” that happened to her as a student. How she chooses to cope (or not) with her newfound reality and the way that trauma is presenting itself in her present and future life. As the people surrounding her remain seemingly “normal” and unaffected.
Photo credit: Pradt
A scene from Sorry Baby, of Agnes and her professor Louis Cancelmi.
We bear witness to all of the ups and downs Agnes faces as she struggles with this “really bad thing” that happened to her as a student. How she chooses to cope (or not) with her newfound reality and the way that trauma is presenting itself in her present and future life. As the people surrounding her remain seemingly “normal” and unaffected.
This movie was so intimate in all of the best ways, without making the viewer uncomfortable, as so many movies that handle sensitive topics like these fail to do every single time. Agnes felt like my friend, and I worried about her as such all throughout the movie. It didn't rely on graphic scenes and depressing musical montages to tell its story and let us connect with and feel for the characters. This is a film I would recommend in the same breath as The Godfather and 12 Angry Men, and it deserves its flowers just as much as any other 2025 release.
Photo credit: Pinterest
A still from Marty Supreme.
But this is not that aforementioned perfect world, and majority of those nominations went to the wrong A24 picture, Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme (2025), a movie that “film-bros” and movie review websites like Medium are calling “The Movie of the Decade”, Where Call Me By Your Name (2017) star Timothee Chalamet plays the character of Marty Mauser. A hustling 1950s self-proclaimed up-and-coming table-tennis star and aspiring future world championship holder. Who will let nothing get in the way of his pursuit of that dream? A movie that marketing misled me and so many others to believe would be astonishing and worth skipping Christmas dinner over, that ended up being more disappointing than the ending of Game of Thrones. This film had so many opportunities to shed light on the unspoken issues that can stem from centering your life and your entire identity on the praise and reward and the immediate gratification of sports, and it didn’t take a single one of them.
This movie had so much potential, but multilayered plots can easily be misconstrued and lost in fast-paced settings like this. This movie appealed to a very specific audience, one that was highlighted in my comment section when i expressed my opinions on this movie after seeing it in theatres,
Screenshot of a social media post that I made on the film.
This was a movie for the angry white guys of the world, which doesn’t automatically make it bad. I loved movies like Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street and Fight Club by David Fincher, which, online and in the film space, are two extremely notorious “film-bro” or “male manipulator” movies. Most people will roll their eyes immediately if you say either of the two is your favorite, because frankly, they’re just 120+ minutes of nudity, drugs, and money.
Yes, I liked these movies and even rated both of them at 4.5/5 stars, but we need to be honest with ourselves and pay attention to what specific group of people movies like this portray and cater to. And which ones are turning them into edits and idolizing them? When done well, the angry-white-guy trope can be extremely entertaining, but this is not one of those rare occurrences. Marty Supreme just made me uncomfortable. The entire movie was just a montage of him lying, manipulating, and yelling at the people who were just trying to help him, and that makes for a stodgy and uncomfortable movie instead of an iconic one.
Photo credit: Pinterest
A still of Edward Norton and Brad Pitt from the movie "Fight Club" (1999).
I love movies, and they’re easy for me to love, from romantic comedies to gory horror films; I can find something to love in all of them.
My film rating averages from my Letterboxd profile.
According to my letterboxd that, I rated at least 67% of the 362 movies I watched, above four stars in 2025. And less than 4% of those ratings aligned with the one I gave this one.
Photo credit: Letterboxd
A quote of the first line of my Marty Supreme Letterboxd Review
So it's safe to say that for me, it doesn't take much to be considered an inherently good movie. plot, somewhat likeable characters (usually) with development or just a cohesive storyline, all of which this film completely lacked.
Photo credit: @Letterboxd on Instagram
The 2026 Best Picture Oscar Nominees by Letterboxd Rating.
The idea that a movie this mediocre would be at the top with an average rating of 4.43, out of all of the 2025 nominees, is a joke, and the fact that Sorry Baby isn’t even one of them is an even bigger one.
Photo credit: Pradt
Still of a scene featuring Eva Victor as Agnes Ward.
Yes, I would agree with the argument that the lighting and cinematography for every Best Picture nominee were all beautiful, especially Sinners. But that is its own award.
Photo credit: Variety Magazine
Roger Deakins accepting his Academy Award for Best Cinematography for "1917" in 2020.
It saddens me that we’re living in a time of The Brutalist (2024).
Photo credit: Pinterest
A still of Adrien Brody from a scene of the movie "The Brutalist" (2024).
All it takes for a film to win Best Picture is a few colorful stills, AI-perfected accents, shaky camera quality, and mediocre writing. Marty Supreme wasn’t anything special; in fact, I thought it was objectively awful. Not just because of the poor writing and non-existent plot, but because they were afforded such a stacked cast,
Photo credit: Pinterest
A selfie of Marty Supreme cast taken by Odessa A'zion, who plays "Rachel Mizler."
With people like Tyler the Creator and Gwenyth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, and SAC-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, and then gave them barely any screentime.
But in my opinion, those 30 scanty minutes and the times when people were actually playing ping-pong were the only watchable parts of the movie. Sorry, Baby made people feel seen, Marty Supreme made people spend $1200 on resold windbreakers.
To quote my own Letterboxd review, “The cinematography was on point, but the plot was literally just nowhere, so many things happened, but literally nothing happened at the same time.”
I don't know about you, but to me, no amount of cinematic chase scenes and period-accurate costume design can make up for poorly written and developed characters.
I absolutely hated this movie, and not just because I didn't find the category or the idea of an angry, borderline narcissistic dude playing ping pong for two hours and thirty minutes with previews enticing. I am an avid bio-pic lover, some of my favorites being Hidden Figures (2016) directed by Theodore Melfi, and The Iron Claw (2023) by Sean Durkin.
Photo credit: Pinterest
Taraji P Henson, at the center of a still from the movie "Hidden Figures" (2016), a film based on the lives of scientists Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson.
Both movies share the key components that make a good biopic, getting you to feel and see yourself in the character, and getting you to actually care what happens to them. Two qualities that I believe Marty Supreme is seriously lacking. Because while watching i was rooting for everyone BUT Marty, whether it was Mr. Wonderful or the Japanese ping-pong prodigy, I didn't care whether Marty got that ticket to Japan because I didn't even know why, outside of vain or selfish desires, he wanted it so badly.
A little exposition or even a two-minute conversation about a character's past can go a long way. I would have loved this movie if it kept those elements or even turned it into a classic Rocky or Karate Kid-style sports movie. With training montages and supporting characters that actually give the main character soul and personality. That is a film I wouldn't mind being nominated for best picture.
But by the end: “He’s still broke and exactly where he was before he almost blew up a dog and killed his pregnant girlfriend.”
Yes, this film was exciting and, in my opinion, still worth watching because of how insane the plot actually was. There is no world where it is Oscar-worthy.
Beyond maybe some appreciation for Timothee’s dedication to becoming the character of Marty Mauser with his acne prosthetics, it was boring, and to claim that this is A24’s best work or the film of the decade is objectively insane. If we look at the facts and not even my opinions, A24’s highest-grossing and most awarded movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) written and directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (the Daniels). A groundbreaking film that explores themes of motherhood and generational trauma, and it’s one that I cannot recommend enough. It secured over 350 award nominations and 336 wins, including its 7 Oscars for Best Director, Best Actress and Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Original Score and Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Picture.
Photo credit: Pinterest
A still of Michelle Yeoh's character, Evelyn Quan Wang, in the 2022 Film, "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
A groundbreaking film that explores themes of motherhood and generational trauma, and it’s one that I cannot recommend enough. It secured over 350 award nominations and 336 wins, including its 7 Oscars for Best Director, Best Actress and Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Original Score and Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Picture
Like a Sorry Baby, Everything Everywhere All at Once, handled sensitive topics and provided immense representation, and that sense of resonance for its viewers.
Photo credit: Pinterest
An edited shot of Michelle Yeoh in the 2022 Film, "Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
The title itself and the Daniels’ choices in direction style are a nod to neurodivergency. The intentional choice of fast pacing, as we see in Marty Supreme, is used as a metaphor for living with undiagnosed AD/HD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), and how it can lead to the feeling of being overwhelmed by every possibility and every thought simultaneously.
Photo credit: Pinterest
A still from a scene of Michelle Yeoh in the 2022 Film, "Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Everything Everywhere All At Once was an originally written film that explored moral philosophy, Marty Supreme is an homage to a man who no one had ever heard of prior to its release, and it wasn’t even done well.
This film was loosely based on the life of the actual major title and world championship winner (Bronze), nicknamed “the Needle,” Marty Reisman.
Photo Credit: The Huffington Post
A photo of the late Marty Reisman via a tribute article from the Huffington Post.
Reisman claimed the U.S Doubles Championship in 1949 and secured over 22 major national and international titles, like U.S Men’s Singles Champion in 1958 and 1960, U.S. Hardbat Champion in 1997, and victories in multiple other events, including the British Open and Junior National Championships.
The main premise of this film was intended to showcase the sacrifices and harm a person can do to themselves and the people around them in pursuit of a dream that may not actually be a healthy one. A cautionary tale about how passion can easily be morphed into addiction and obsession. But on social media and in the film space in general, on platforms like Letterboxd and Tiktok people are misinterpreting the movie entirely, some even calling it the “best of 2025” and “the movie of the decade”. Making merchandise, selling orange ping-pong balls, $250 sweatshirts, starting table tennis lessons as some sort of media-fueled rebrand, as if they had watched the movie with their eyes closed. Marty is supposed to be this crazed guy who makes stupid decisions and ruins his life; that’s what made the movie fun to watch.
Even the Safdie Brothers themselves said that they “wanted Marty Supreme to be about the relentless, obsessive pursuit of dreams and happiness.”
Photo credit: Pinterest
A comparison of Timothee Chalamet's character Marty Mauser (Left) to real-life table-tennis champ Marty Reisman (Right).
Which is shown in Mauser’s almost romantic hustle and chase for what he deems as success, especially in ping-pong, but not only in his sport but with women, social status, and just the attempt to be perceived as though he has “made it.” How can flow from stardom and recognition to a self-destructive addiction? He wants to win, and he doesn’t care about the people he might have to hurt or manipulate to get there. That is not a person to idolize or alter yourself to identify with.
Sorry, Baby made people feel seen. Marty Supreme made people spend $1200 on resold windbreakers. Even when in competition with movies like Sinners by Ryan Coolger and Sentimental Value by Joachim Tier, two films that I also gave 5 stars and thoroughly enjoyed. This film wins by a long shot, and at the end of the day, no one asked for a movie about 75-year-old table tennis wins (no offense, Marty).
Photo credit: Daily Beast archive
Marty Reisman posing for a 2012 article written by
Harold Evans for the Daily Beast in the archive section.
But people have been begging for years for a movie about sexual assault like Sorry Baby that doesn’t leave its audience traumatized or triggered by their own past experiences. Because victims should be allowed to enjoy powerful and moving stories like these without having to be visibly reminded of their own. I think every single film that chooses to handle sensitive topics like SA should take a few notes from Eva Victor. We need movies like Sorry Baby to remind us that we aren’t alone. I cannot wait to see what other beautiful stories Victor tells in her hopefully very long upcoming career, and I hope with other award opportunities, Sorry Baby finally gets the attention and recognition it deserves.
To quote Julia Roberts: “If you haven’t seen it yet, see it.”
