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Made in America | Los Angeles Review of Books

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All donations made by December 31 will be matched up to $100,000. Help us reach our $200,000 goal by donating today. GIVE TODAY. BRIGHT ORANGE BLIMPS over Los Angeles, branded Nahmias jumpsuits. A belated NYFF premiere via a “secret screening.” Pictures of Zohran Mamdani posing with Fran Drescher. For weeks, only one review out from under embargo, on Charli XCX’s Letterboxd. The immediate critical impulse is to ignore all of this. Understandably—it would be more enlightened to engage with a movie beyond its marketing, to approach art ignorant of press release promises (to say nothing of, at the time of writing, the biggest per-screen box office average since 2016). This dismissal also presages contrarianism or, better yet, a muted respect, one that belies an understanding of the picture unclouded by fanaticism. Yet it feels naive and self-limiting to overlook that this is, for a certain sect of moviegoing audiences, the cinematic event of 2025. This is a litmus test for whether the rec

Made in America Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” and the mythmaking around a monoculture masterpiece. By Sam Bodrojan December 26, 2025 Film Did you know LARB is a reader-supported nonprofit? LARB publishes daily without a paywall as part of our mission to make rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts freely accessible to the public. Help us continue this work with your tax-deductible donation today! Donate BRIGHT ORANGE BLIMPS over Los Angeles, branded Nahmias jumpsuits. A belated NYFF premiere via a “secret screening.” Pictures of Zohran Mamd

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