For his first directorial effort without his brother, Benny Safdie opted for conventional biopic uplift with The Smashing Machine. Josh Safdie, on the other hand, goes the other way, channeling gritty, frantic character-driven 1970s NYC thrillers with Marty Supreme.

It’s a shrewd approach, as the filmmaker’s maiden solo feature (December 25, in theaters) is a breakneck rollercoaster—about ping pong!—infused with a manic desperation that’s almost as electric as its athletic centerpieces are taut.

A kindred spirit to the duo’s Uncut Gems, with which it shares a fascination with talented two-bit hustlers on the hunt for a next big score that’ll validate their belief in themselves, it’s a gripping period piece about a young man—played, in a career-best turn, by Timothée Chalamet—whose Amer

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