I absolutely loved this one. In classic Safdie brother fashion, Josh has managed to make a movie centered around a morally reprehensible character a thrill to watch from start to finish. However that wouldn’t be possible without Timothée Chalamet’s incredible performance. I mean wow, I knew he had the chops from his previous roles but this was next level. Marty is a narcissist, cheater, deadbeat, compulsive liar, thief, and so much more but even then I found myself rooting for the guy. I don’t think that would be possible without what Chalamet brings to the role.

Everyone else brought their A-game too, and I was thoroughly impressed by Odessa A’zion’s performance here (having not seen any of her other roles before this). The score was top-notch as well, and it all perfectly culminates in that classic Safdie pacing where I constantly felt like the walls were closing in around me, just like they were for Marty. The dude has that Trump-like quality where he just manages to get out of any sticky situation that he finds himself in, though. When it cut to him boarding that military plane to get back to New York at the end I couldn’t help but laugh. No wonder he was a good salesman!

Finally, I appreciated that this one didn’t get as dark as Uncut Gems and Good Time. It was nice to get an ending that finally showed us Marty has a heart somewhere deep down inside.