From Jewish immigrant streets to hustler swagger, Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme uses fashion, grit and forgotten New York history to build one of A24’s most immersive worlds yet.
If Marty Supreme already feels like one of A24’s most talked-about films, it’s not just because Timothée Chalamet is playing an obsessive, swaggering ping-pong hustler. It’s because the film resurrects a version of New York that feels uncannily alive — sweaty, ambitious, chaotic and dripping with personality.
Set in Manhattan’s Lower East Side during the 1950s, Marty Supreme doesn’t romanticize the era. Instead, it dives headfirst into its grime, energy and style — treating the neighborhood not as a backdrop, but as a fully formed character. And the secret weapon behind this authenticity? An obscure experimental short film from 1955 by filmmaker Ken Jacobs.
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A forgotten film that shaped an entire cinematic world
While researching for Marty Supreme, director Josh Safdie stumbled upon Jacobs’ short film at the Museum of Modern Art. The footage documented daily life in the Lower East Side — predominantly Jewish immigrant families, kids hanging out on sidewalks, women bending fashion rules long before it was socially acceptable.
That short film became the north star for costume designer Miyako Bellizzi.
“Obviously I was looking at the young cool kids,” Bellizzi revealed in an interview. What struck her most was how modern everyone looked. Boys wore pleated trousers, white tank tops, slim ties and sleeveless knit vests. Girls walked around confidently in culottes and graphic tees — a radical fashion choice in an era when women were largely expected to wear skirts.
“Downtown New York was the epicenter of style, even then,” Bellizzi noted. “Women weren’t wearing pants in the 1950s — but the girls in the Lower East Side were.”
That defiance, that quiet rebellion, became the heartbeat of Marty Supreme.
The Lower East Side as a character, not a setting
The film captures the grotty tenements, overcrowded streets and hustle-heavy atmosphere of downtown Manhattan with obsessive attention to detail. For Safdie and Bellizzi — who previously collaborated on Uncut Gems and Good Time — authenticity wasn’t negotiable.
Production design demanded period-accurate storefront fonts on Delancey Street. Costumes banned modern brands entirely. Even underwear had to be era-correct.
“Yes, even down to the underwear,” Bellizzi joked.
Women’s tights were sourced from Williamsburg’s Hasidic Jewish Center. Fabrics, tailoring techniques and silhouettes were all painstakingly researched to ensure nothing broke the illusion.
The result is a world that feels raw and lived-in — not a polished, Instagram-friendly version of the past, but something closer to a documentary with attitude.
Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser: Dressing for delusion
At the center of it all is Marty Mauser, played by Chalamet — mousy, arrogant and dangerously convinced of his own greatness. Marty is loosely inspired by real-life table tennis legend Marty Reisman, but this is no traditional biopic.
For Bellizzi, the question wasn’t just “What would Marty wear?” but “Who does Marty think he is?”
“He’s dressing for the job he wants,” she explained. “It’s not even fake it till you make it — it’s him wanting to show he’s in the know.”
Marty’s wardrobe borrows heavily from hustler subculture and old-school Wise Guy gangsters. Boxy, oversized suits dominate his look. Two-piece sets with padded shoulders in charcoal and navy blue become his uniform. It’s power dressing — even when he hasn’t earned the power yet.
The clothes exaggerate his ambition, mirroring the way he overestimates his importance in a world that barely takes ping pong seriously.
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Small details, big statements
Bellizzi avoided turning Marty into a caricature. While the real Marty Reisman was eccentric, the film’s version leans subtle. The flair is in the details — the cut of a jacket, the drape of trousers, the confidence with which he wears them.
One standout moment? Marty shoveling a hot dog into his mouth in traffic — while wearing red leather gloves.
It’s absurd, unforgettable, and completely in character.
“He’s pretty classic,” Bellizzi said, “but the shapes and small details give him his personality.”
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Kay Stone: elegance as aspiration
No discussion of Marty Supreme’s costume design is complete without Kay Stone, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. A retired movie star, Kay represents everything Marty wants — status, legitimacy, glamour.
Her wardrobe is the polar opposite of Marty’s hustler aesthetic. Ivory wool coats, pillbox hats, delicate face veils — Kay is restrained, polished and intentionally distant.
But when she wears a red satin evening coat to the opening of her play, the film’s emotional core shifts.
“That was her moment,” Bellizzi explained. “She felt the most alive again.”
The red isn’t just a fashion choice — it symbolizes desire, risk and vulnerability. The cruel irony? That night also marks the beginning of her disappointment, as the play fails to impress critics.
“It encapsulates the whole point of the film,” Bellizzi said. “Sometimes you have big dreams for yourself, and sometimes they don’t go the way you want them to.”
Why Marty Supreme feels different from typical period films
Unlike glossy period dramas that sanitize history, Marty Supreme embraces discomfort. The Lower East Side is noisy, messy and unpredictable — much like Marty himself.
Safdie’s obsession with realism ensures that fashion doesn’t feel like costume, but survival. Clothes signal aspiration, class and desperation. Everyone is trying to become someone else, whether through a suit, a coat or a carefully chosen tie.
That’s why Marty Supreme feels so alive — and why it’s already being discussed as one of A24’s most ambitious character studies.
The bigger picture: ambition, illusion and identity
At its core, Marty Supreme isn’t about ping pong. It’s about obsession. About convincing yourself you belong somewhere — even when the world keeps telling you otherwise.
By grounding that story in meticulous historical detail, Safdie and Bellizzi elevate the film beyond nostalgia. The 1950s aren’t romanticized; they’re interrogated.
And through Marty Mauser’s delusions of grandeur, Marty Supreme quietly asks a question that still feels painfully relevant today: How much of success is talent — and how much is just dressing the part?
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