Ballad of a Small Player

Fresh off the back of not one but two Oscar winning motion pictures with 2024’s Conclave and the Netflix streaming hit All Quiet on the Western Front, Edward Berger’s follow-up feature Ballad of a Small Player is not what you might expect: a glossy, often gritty but overwhelmingly cartoonish rollercoaster through the life of a terminally unsuccessful gambler living the high life in China’s gambling paradise Macau.

The film follows “Lord Doyle” (Colin Farrell), a down-on-his-luck gambler with a penchant for losing big hands, as he floats through the casinos of a glistening Macau, most of which he has been barred from or otherwise run out of credit. Overcome by debts, Lord Doyle enters an agreement with ruthless but surprisingly not unfeeling creditor Dao Ming (Fala Chen) to fund his nightly shot at the big time in a bid to pay back his debts. If this wasn’t enough, he is pursued by the private investigator Cynthia Blythe (Tilda Swinton), who seeks to reclaim some money Lord Doyle stole from his previous employer, or failing this, turn him over to the authorities who will undoubtedly facilitate Lord Doyle’s unwilling return to the West.

An undeniably stylish thriller, Ballad of a Small Player aims to create a persistent sense of unease, with the recurring imagery of demons, its dramatic heartbeat-esque score, and its use of off-kilter framing, shot almost entirely at sharp angles when the tension is at its highest. That’s not to say that those coming in should expect the same panic-inducing heights as 2019’s gambler thriller Uncut Gems. Instead, Berger’s gamblers-tale lavishes in its stylistic flourishes, and ultimately lands with a softer touch; the stakes are high, and there’s always the impending omen of death just around the corner, but Ballad of a Small Player is a film set with unusual quirks and bright, colourful characters that are never entirely fleshed out regardless of their importance to the plot. The criminally underused Swinton’s Cynthia never truly has a chance to shine, and Fala Chan’s Dao Ming falters by way of some poor early act scripting that doesn’t provide the ample groundwork that Chan’s character desperately requires.

While Ballad of a Small Player may not meet the high bar set by 2024’s Conclave, it’s nevertheless an undeniable thrill ride that sends you careering through the streets of Macau, bolstered by an appropriately outlandish performance from Colin Farrell as the unscrupulous ‘Lord Doyle’ and the otherworldly, almost dreamlike atmosphere created by acclaimed cinematographer James Friend heavily stylised camera work which expertly captures the neon-soaked streets of Macua and the murky underbelly of its harbour. A rollicking, heart-pumping, and at times hilarious thriller, Ballad of a Small Player may not prove to generate the same awards buzz as Berger’s earlier work but, like All Quiet on the Western Front before it, will certainly win over audiences on its Netflix release.

Ronan Fawsitt

Ballad of a Small Player does not have a release date yet.

Read more reviews from our London Film Festival coverage here.

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Watch the trailer for Ballad of a Small Player here: