Following the rise of ‘sigma males’ and toxic masculinity, Josh Safdie expertly exposes the myth behind the grindset mentality in 2025’s most stunning character study.
Timothee Chalamet is in ‘the pursuit of greatness’. At least he was at the 2025 SAG awards, designating his award as ‘a little more ammo to keep going.’ However, since finishing Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme (2025), Chalamet’s tone has shifted, taking a more grateful stance at the 2026 Golden Globes. Could Marty Supreme be a turning point for Chalamet as an actor? Are there lessons to be drawn here? The answer seems clear. When read together, these speeches suggest that Chalamet has followed the same arc as Marty himself, evolving from a bold pursuer of greatness into a grounded figure of modesty. Marty Supreme invites similar revelations within its viewers. Following the rise of sigma males, grindset culture, and toxic masculinity, Marty Supreme feels more important than ever, particularly for its male audience.
Set in 1952, Marty Supreme foregrounds the American dream, which shapes New York shoe shop worker Marty Mauser’s (Timothee Chalamet) individualism as he is convinced he can win the table tennis British Open and climb the capitalist ladder. His toxicity, driven by a need to prove himself, reflects our current culture in ways that are not immediately obvious.
Just as American individualism surged post-WWII, another form of individualism has emerged today, post-pandemic. Social media is a hive of misinformation that grows more destructive as it grows more influential. In the early 2020s, the sigma male archetype became the latest brand of misinformation, operating as a role model for young, impressionable men, popularised by the toxic and misogynistic teachings of figures such as Andrew Tate and tied to characters such as Patrick Bateman. This culture eventually bled into the self-improvement world, where terms such as ‘grindset’ and ‘locking in’ created unrealistic, ultimately harmful expectations for the male population. In this way, the ‘sigma male grindset’ threatened a generation of men, pushing them towards discipline rooted in alienation and hate. As this disease of toxic masculinity spreads, Marty Supreme serves as an antidote.
Marty completely embodies the sigma male grindset for a vast majority of the film’s runtime, sacrificing both his own well-being and that of those closest to him in the name of greatness. Despite proudly proclaiming himself worthy of becoming world champion, he repeatedly loses, reflecting the fragility that toxic masculinity disguises. Endo (Koto Kawaguchi), the Japanese player who defeats Marty in the British Open, is, in contrast, a humble craftsman who lets his talents speak for themselves, representative of the humility Marty only achieves at the film’s end.
During his time at the British Open, Marty seduces washed-up actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). His lust for Kay is rooted entirely in her success as she lives the life he craves. Kay, however, is trapped in a loveless marriage with business tycoon Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), forced to attend his exhibitions and pacified with material gifts that only deepen her misery. Her emptiness reveals that the success Marty grinds for is ultimately unfulfilling. After Marty’s affair with Kay, he tries to exploit Milton for a chance to rematch Endo in Japan, as his funds are nonexistent. Portrayed by an entrepreneur from Shark Tank, Milton perfectly personifies corporate power, snidely looking down at Marty and wringing him for the business opportunities he is worth. After failing to manipulate the stone-cold face of capitalism, Marty is forced to lose his dignity to Milton and, quite literally, bow down to the elite, unable to rise in a capitalist world, realising (the harsh way) that not ‘everybody can rule the world.’
Marty repeatedly embraces the grindset, as he loses his dignity, exploits his friends, and then denies responsibility for his pregnant girlfriend Rachel (Odessa A’zion), convinced they are all at the cost of legacy. This legacy is never built, however. Marty beats Endo, anticlimactically, not at a tournament, but at an exhibition, where the stakes are at an all-time low. He arrives as a nobody and leaves a nobody, underscoring the emptiness of his journey. It is only at the final scene that Marty realises this emptiness, leading him to abandon his ego and find purpose in something beyond table tennis.
Safdie exposes the myths of grindset and the endless, obsessive growth it entails as Marty’s ambitions blind him from genuine connection. Marty exploits his friend Wally (Tyler Okonma) and neglects his business partner Dion (Luke Hanley), indirectly dismantling a potential future, all in the name of table tennis. By the film’s end, Marty realises his mistakes as he cries in the face of the child he has continually denied responsibility for. Tears flood his face as all the suppressed emotions he has hidden are released. Wordlessly, he realises where true value lies, in the form of a baby. Love has always surrounded Marty, though it just took his ignorance of it to realise what he had been missing. Climactically, he transforms from a boisterous, egotistical juvenile into a man of modesty and gratitude, prepared to take on this new stage of fatherhood. The illusion of the sigma male grindset has never been clearer. Through each character Marty wrongs, a new flaw in his character is revealed. Marty Supreme teaches an important lesson to its audience. The discipline and toxicity enforced by the sigma male archetype not only degrade the lives of those closest to us, but it also leads to self-destruction. Marty overcomes the allure of the sigma male grindset only after realising its harmfulness. True fulfilment emerges not through conquest but connection. By embracing those closest to him, Marty kills the sigma male, offering a remedy for the toxic masculinity that persists in the world to this day.
Image Credit: Rolling Stone
