'Ballad of a Small Player' Review: Edward Berger’s Glamorous Gambling Drama Folds Early
- Jack Ransom
- Oct 13
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 28
By Jack Ransom - October 13, 2025
Ballad of a Small Player is the new directorial effort from director Edward Berger. When his past and his debts start to catch up with him, a high-stakes gambler (Colin Farrell), laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit (Fala Chen) who might just hold the key to his salvation.
Berger has delivered a couple of back-to-back award darlings over the past couple of years. With 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front (brilliant yet harrowing) and 2024’s Conclave (strong performances and cinematography; however, the narrative didn’t engage me). Now, just under a year later, he returns with a Netflix-backed familiar fall and rise gambler tale, which unfortunately feels quite disposable and certainly won’t have the impact of the aforementioned two features.
At just over 100 minutes, this certainly feels longer, and the bursts of high-stakes plays and reckless barrages of greed and excess clash with the film’s melancholic and even supernatural-tinged moments in the second half. It’s a shame, as the idea of a ‘lost soul’ floating around the card game joints of Macau could have been an atmospheric and unique approach to the material, but ultimately, a lot of this you have seen before and done better, due to an undercooked screenplay.
I will say it took a little while for me to find my footing with the film (partly due to an incredibly irritating audience of latecomers at the start and two people being escorted out due to phone usage - what is wrong with people), but once Lord Doyle’s (Farrell) desperation and paranoia truly kick in does pick up somewhat and does float along into a floating, otherworldly tinged realm before firing up the stakes again. It’s just a shame that the supporting players in this ballad (sorry) feel extremely undercooked.
Where the film comfortably excels is in its visual flair and direction. With this and Wake Up Dead Man (which I saw earlier at LFF), it is proof that Netflix can still allow directors of a certain calibre to not produce artificial, advert-looking content. Most of Macau is drenched in glamorous, vibrant neon-tinted lighting, and the set designs are meticulous, excessive, and gratuitous (very much matching our lead). A brief detour to a coastal hideaway offers far more naturalistic cinematography, compared to the emphasis on dutch angles, spins, and dynamic movements which ping and whirl like a slot machine.
Farrell is as great as always here. He hasn’t got too much originality to work with for this character; however, he is giving 100% as he recklessly indulges, throws his cash away, and navigates Macau with a cocktail of guilt and addiction. Tilda Swinton and Alex Jennings are both suitably quirky and smarmy in their brief supporting appearances, and lastly, Fala Chen’s calming Dao Ming is a mysterious presence.
Despite excellent visuals, a strong lead performance, and some unique moments, Ballad of a Small Player is held back by a generic and undercooked screenplay, pacing problems, a jumpy structure, and a lack of engaging side characters. A shame, as this had the ingredients to be something great.
Ballad of a Small Player has a UK release date of October 17, 2025, for cinemas, followed by a Netflix release on October 29, 2025.
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