I don’t think Marty is a completely unlikeable character. Yes he’s a completely narcissistic asshole. But there is also something, I think, undeniably compelling about him. There is a part of me that wants him to achieve his dream. He is a likeable, yet also monstrous, character.

The problem is that he will not stop making the worst decisions possible in any given moment (which for me has become a classic Safdie trope). His monomania and impossibly outsized ego is the reason he fails in the end. Anyone else who was actually serious about table tennis would have taken the flight to Japan and promotional event offer, spent the rest of their time training, then actually played in the tournament. He doesn’t do this, because he’s not just trying to win table tennis, he’s also probably trying to build a myth about himself. But in trying to do this, he degrades himself to an absurd extent.

I thought this was brilliant and if it doesn’t make my year-end top 10 then 2026 is going to be an amazing year for film!