Marty Supreme Paris Premiere at Le Grand Rex Draws Timothée Chalamet and Josh Safdie

Paris, Le Grand Rex, February 3 2026

This night, Paris briefly slipped into another era as Marty Supreme premiered at the Grand Rex, transforming the iconic cinema into a portal to the restless, smoke-filled New York of the early 1950s. Presented in person by director Josh Safdie, screenwriter Ronald Bronstein, and star Timothée Chalamet, the screening unfolded in an atmosphere charged with genuine cinephile excitement. This was not a conventional prestige event, but the French arrival of a film already surrounded by mythology, awards buzz, and a reputation for creative recklessness. As the lights went down, the unusually attentive silence in the room suggested that the audience sensed it too: Marty Supreme belongs to a rarer strain of American cinema, one fueled by obsession rather than polish.

Set in 1952, the film follows Marty Mauser, a fast-talking young hustler from New York’s Lower East Side who believes, against all odds and common sense, that table tennis will be his path to greatness. Loosely inspired by the life of legendary ping-pong player and con man Marty Reisman, Marty Supreme deliberately avoids the traditional biopic structure. Instead, it uses its protagonist as a lens through which to explore postwar American ambition, capitalism, and the intoxicating danger of believing too fiercely in oneself. Timothée Chalamet delivers a transformative, physically committed performance that has already been widely hailed as career-defining, supported by an eclectic ensemble including Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Fran Drescher, and Abel Ferrara, all contributing to the film’s richly textured social world.

What resonated strongly during the Paris premiere is the way Josh Safdie elevates an obscure sport into a cinematic arena charged with existential stakes. Shot in 35mm by Darius Khondji, the film embraces claustrophobic proximity, placing the camera uncomfortably close to faces and bodies, amplifying tension and vulnerability. Chalamet underwent months of intense training and performs many of his own stunts, reinforcing the film’s sense of physical exhaustion and masochistic commitment. Every detail, from period-accurate sets to grimy street textures, reflects Safdie’s obsession with authenticity and refusal to romanticize struggle.

Composer Daniel Lopatin’s score further enhances this restless energy, blending electronic elements with period influences to create a soundtrack that feels both rooted in its era and strangely timeless. The film constantly oscillates between comedy, desperation, and tragedy, a tonal boldness that drew audible reactions from the Paris audience as the story unfolded.

Already a major success for A24, Marty Supreme arrives in France with impressive box-office numbers and strong awards momentum. Yet what made its Paris premiere memorable was not the weight of accolades, but the universality of its themes. When the lights came back up at the Grand Rex, the applause felt less like polite recognition and more like acknowledgment of a film that understands how obsession, belief, and blind faith can momentarily reshape reality, both on screen and beyond.