India, Jan. 23 -- In Marty Supreme, director and co-writer Josh Safdie establishes his hero as a liar and adulterer within minutes. Marty, played by Timothee Chalamet, is also self-centred, and obsessed with table tennis.

Over the course of the film, he will prey on every person he can prey on and leave a trail of destruction behind him as he tries to fund his table tennis career. On paper, Marty Mauser is everything a hero shouldn't be. Yet he always has the audience on his side.

Beneath the veneer of the con artist, Marty Supreme has layers. He is a working-class man with ambitions beyond his station. He is a Jew navigating an anti-Semitic America. He's a proud athlete who would rather be treated with contempt than pity.

Ultimately, ...