In light of the Page 6 article, here I go.
Overall, I enjoyed Marty Supreme - I laughed, I gasped, I groaned, I rolled my eyes. It was an extremely entertaining ride, and I found fault with none of the performances. But I kept asking myself, "are we supposed to be rooting for this guy?"
Prior to making Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie, and his brother Benny, made multiple films showcasing similar plots, themes, and styles. The Safdies love a man on a fucked-up odyssey to the tune of a synthesizer. Good Time and Uncut Gems both feature sleazy men absolutely going THROUGH it on quests for money. Your heart rate increases while watching Connie and Howard lose again and again. But while you may express anguish at the situations they put themselves in, it is clear what these men are: dirtbags. They’re constantly in crises of their own making, and the films don’t seem to have much to say other than, “look at these great performances of men behaving insanely and making your adrenaline surge.” Fine, I’ll take it.
Marty Supreme gives us a similar schtick; a man who will do anything to get what he wants, which leads to an extremely stressful two hours of mayhem. But this time, it feels like we’re supposed to root for him. Like, REALLY root for him. Not as an anti-hero, not because there are stakes like a disabled brother who needs care, or a family at risk of losing its breadwinner. No, we’re supposed to root for Marty because he’s the best. He dreams big. The fact that he’ll do whatever it takes is a virtue, not a detriment. Marty is funny, brash, and confident. The viewer is not repulsed by his behavior because he is awesome. You may go “ugh, Marty, no!” a few times throughout, but you can’t help hoping every scheme will work out in his favor, even if at the expense of others. The press tour leading up to the film’s release also touted Marty as a beacon of greatness. Timmy was out with his orange ball headed henchmen, distributing branded Marty Supreme jackets to those he considered “great.” How should the audience take this?
The film doesn’t completely let Marty off the hook for his behavior, and his narcissism has very dire consequences for his loved ones (his friends get screwed, Rachel gets shot, etc). But in the end, he is redeemed. He does not want the money, he just wants to prove himself. He finally claims his child. The final scene shows Marty becoming emotional at seeing his baby, but this redemption is not earned. He has only ever denied parentage up to this point. The sentimentality seems to come out of nowhere in an attempt to keep you on Marty’s side. The film does not want you to hate him or judge him for making poor choices; rather, it wants you to see a man who willing to do anything to make his dreams come true, and it wants you to find that admirable. And, I don’t.
But, honestly, I was willing to forgive all of that because of how fun of a ride Marty Supreme was. I truly had a great time! And then The Article came out. And I’m actually embarrassed to be so behind on this issue, as pretty much all of the information from Page 6 has been available since being published in a 2023 Variety article. But, what I can only assume to be an Oscar sniper attack rehashed the story in Page 6 on Monday, and here we are.
I won’t get too much into it, but during Good Time, the Safdies filmed a nude sex scene with a 17-year-old girl and a former felon in which the man allegedly sexually assaulted the minor. The scene was cut, the Safdies claimed they didn’t know her age, and their producer Sebastian Bear-McClard was mostly blamed for the incident. Bear-McClard had allegedly been grooming teens on the set of Good Time, and later Uncut Gems. Reports claim his MO was DMing teen girls on Instagram, one as young as 15, promising them roles in his films, and beginning relationships with them. According to Page 6, Bear-McClard’s behavior was the source of the brothers’ split, as Benny allegedly found out details about McClard’s behavior in 2022 to which Josh had been privy in 2017. (It’s hard to believe that Benny was that isolated from Bear-McClard’s issues, but who knows.) Bear-McClard was fired in 2022, and the brothers went their separate ways creatively.
The Page 6 article describes Josh Safdie as a reckless director, prone to casting non-actors in his stylistic films. Indeed, the Safdies became famous for their guerrilla filmmaking, which seems charming and fun until you have a full grown man asking a nude 17-year-old girl if he can “stick it in.” Or a non-actor background performer threatening Timothee Chalamet, telling him, “I was just in jail for 30 years. You really don't want to f--k with me. You don't want to see me angry.”
Even if a filmmaker wants his art to be gritty and real, why would one ever allow the circumstances for incidents like these to occur? Also, if there are budgets for Robert Pattinson, Timothee Chalamet, and Kevin O’Leary, we can probably afford guild actors who are not at risk of committing assault on set.
But Josh Safdie does what it takes. He is a dreamer destined for greatness. In his own words, “ [ . . . ] we’re going to do whatever it takes to get a movie made, which does enable you to take on kind of a criminal mindset – and I do.” Is he irresponsible in his pursuit of his goals? Maybe. But someone has to do it; someone has to keep making two-hour nightmares featuring offenders off the street and MAGA Fox News talking heads. With art like this, who needs accountability in film?
I’m going to put on The Mastermind. In Kelly Reichardt We Trust.
Sources:
"The teenage sex scene that sparked infamous rift between edgy director brothers behind Hollywood’s hottest movies” by Tatiana Siegel: https://pagesix.com/2026/01/26/hollywood/the-teenage-sex-scene-that-sparked-safdie-brothers-infamous-rift/
"Sebastian Bear-McClard, Emily Ratajkowski’s Estranged Husband and ‘Uncut Gems’ Producer, Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Multiple Women” by Tatiana Siegel: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/sebastian-bear-mcclard-sexual-misconduct-emily-ratajkowski-estranged-husband-uncut-gems-1235567864/
Josh Safdie on Marty Supreme: ‘One dream has to end for another to begin’: https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/69326/1/josh-safdie-marty-supreme-one-dream-interview-timothee-chalamet-2025
"Josh Safdie on Marty Supreme and the loneliness of chasing a dream” by Vivian Rashotte: https://www.cbc.ca/arts/q/josh-safdie-on-marty-supreme-and-the-loneliness-of-chasing-a-dream-9.7026332
"Timothée Chalamet and Josh Safdie: How We Made ‘Marty Supreme’” by David Canfield: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/making-marty-supreme-josh-safdie-timothee-chalamet-interview-1236461220/
"For Timothée Chalamet, the ‘Marty Supreme’ Press Tour Is Part of the Performance” by Ann Thompson: https://www.indiewire.com/awards/consider-this/timothee-chalamet-interview-marty-supreme-1235169009/
"Timothée Chalamet Reveals a Background Actor Threatened Him on the Set of Marty Supreme: 'Who Do You Have Me Opposite, Man?’” by Clare Fisher and Alex Cramer: https://people.com/timothee-chalamet-says-a-background-actor-threatened-him-on-the-set-of-marty-supreme-11885868
"How Josh and Benny Safdie Used Guerrilla Filmmaking to Hack Their Way Into Hollywood” by Eric Kohn: https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/good-time-interview-josh-benny-safdie-robert-pattinson-1201867914/
"The Safdie Brothers’ Full-Immersion Filmmaking” by Kelefa Sanneh: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/the-safdie-brothers-full-immersion-filmmaking
"The Safdies: Good Time, guerrilla film and gangs of New York”: https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/37910/1/good-time-movie-safdie-brothers-robert-pattinson
"MAGA CNN Panelist Goes on Bonkers Rant About ‘Dumb’ Stephen Colbert” by Josephine Harvey: https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-cnn-panelist-kevin-oleary-goes-on-bonkers-rant-at-dumb-stephen-colbert/
"CNN host shuts down MAGA millionaire’s defense of Trump” by Lauren Sforza: https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/05/cnn-host-shuts-down-maga-millionaires-defense-of-trump.html
"Nicki Minaj and 'Marty Supreme' actor Kevin O'Leary set to join Trump at launch event for "Trump Accounts” by Alex Weprin: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nicki-minaj-and-marty-supreme-actor-kevin-oleary-set-to-join-trump-at-launch-event-for-trump-accounts/ar-AA1V1NCV