It’s become something of an Academy tradition: when a Best Actor frontrunner dominates the conversation, a Best Supporting Actress contender often rises alongside him. If Timothée Chalamet’s career-defining and now Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe award-winning performance in “Marty Supreme” ultimately takes home the Oscar, it would feel incomplete without Odessa A’zion’s star-making turn as Rachel, the childhood friend turned (sort of) romantic partner of the highly motivated ping pong player, receiving a nomination in Best Supporting Actress.
A’zion has spent the last few years quietly positioning herself as one of the most exciting young performers working today. After breaking into the mainstream as Tallulah in Rachel Sennott’s HBO original “I Love LA,” she quickly became one of those names that seemed to appear everywhere at once. Yet visibility alone does not justify awards attention. What makes A’zion truly worthy of the conversation this year is the specificity, versatility, and emotional intelligence she brings to “Marty Supreme.” It’s a commanding performance that elevates the film while never attempting to overpower it.
Rachel is, in many ways, the ideal supporting role. She is Marty’s childhood best friend turned friends-with-benefits, turned baby mama, turned partner in crime; a relationship that evolves as erratically and dangerously as Marty himself. She is his fiercest supporter and, at times, the only person willing to show up when his ambitions spiral into self-destruction. Yet what makes A’zion’s performance so remarkable is how fully realized Rachel feels outside of her function in Marty’s story, even in a film that is unapologetically centered on its male protagonist.
“Marty Supreme” is a film that rarely takes its camera off Chalamet, and yet A’zion manages to carve out an indelible presence. Rachel never registers as merely “the girlfriend” or “the woman behind the man.” Instead, she becomes the film’s emotional grounding force; its moral chaos and beating heart rolled into one. Rachel is impulsive, perceptive, fiercely loyal, and profoundly reckless. She understands Marty better than anyone else in the room, which makes her both his greatest asset and his most dangerous mirror.
This dynamic is where A’zion’s work truly shines. It has been said that Rachel exists as the “heart and soul” of “Marty Supreme,” and that idea is fully realized through the intense chemistry between A’zion and Chalamet. Their scenes together are filled with uncertainty. You never quite know if they are on the verge of confessing years of unspoken longing or if they might tear each other apart. A’zion plays Rachel in a constant state of emotional readiness, alternating between disarming cluelessness and barely contained fury, as though she might explode at any second if Marty needs her to.
What keeps the performance from tipping into caricature is A’zion’s control. Her choices are precise, intentional, and often quietly devastating. Director Josh Safdie’s pro-improvisation approach gives A’zion the freedom to keep Rachel unpredictable. Still, it is her instincts as an actress that ensure every moment feels lived in rather than indulgent. Rachel reacts faster than she thinks, speaks before she plans, and yet somehow always lands exactly where she intends. That tension between chaos and calculation is the core of the performance.
A recently released video of A’zion’s self-tape offers a striking illustration of her skill and could stand on its own as an Oscar clip. In the scene, Rachel argues on the phone while simultaneously constructing a lie, juggling emotional manipulation and genuine desperation in real time. It’s a masterclass in active listening and reactive performance, watching someone think, pivot, and protect the person they love without ever losing the scene’s momentum. It is acting that feels dangerous because it appears unscripted, even though every beat is meticulously controlled.
Unsurprisingly, comparisons have been drawn between A’zion and last year’s Best Actress winner, Mikey Madison, for “Anora.” Both performances thrive on sharp, confrontational energy paired with moments of startling vulnerability. In “Marty Supreme,” it’s the contrast between Rachel’s fiery bravado and her raw emotional devotion, particularly during the film’s climactic shootout, that transforms her from a supporting figure into a fully realized character. Rachel is not simply reacting to Marty’s choices, but she is actively shaping the emotional stakes of the film.
The film’s final moments only underscore how essential A’zion is to its success. The ending of “Marty Supreme” works because the audience believes in the relationship between Rachel and Marty at its center. If Rachel were not there, if she had not been developed with such care and emotional weight, the conclusion would feel hollow rather than cathartic. A’zion gives the audience a reason to root for Marty, even when his behavior becomes increasingly indefensible. She humanizes him without excusing him, a delicate balance that few supporting performances manage to strike so effectively.
Academy voters often reward performances that feel inseparable from a film’s emotional impact, and A’zion’s Actor-nominated work in “Marty Supreme” fits squarely within that tradition. Her performance does not exist to decorate Chalamet’s; it challenges, provokes, and ultimately completes it. If the Academy chooses to honor Chalamet’s transformative lead turn, it would be a glaring omission not to recognize the actress who stands beside him, grounding the film and the character of Marty, all the while announcing a new star to the industry.
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