Written by Shalini LangerOctober 30, 2025 07:59 PM IST 3 min readBallad of a Small Player movie review: Edward Berger last dealt with matters of the spirit world in the impressive Conclave. Ballad of a Small Player is replete with references to ghosts too – but unlike the 2024 film, this one wanders like a ghost in search of a body.Ballad of a Small Player is beautiful to gaze at, drawing comparisons to the look and feel of a Wong Kar Wai film, in its framing of Macau in light and shadow, fire and water, big, splashy casinos and dripping, crowded settlements. It is also bravely sustained by Colin Farrell, whose face must do all the attempted storytelling. The film falls in the middle of these two extremes, indulgent and self-absorbed in both its extreme beauty and its star’s dramatic range.Farrell plays an obsessive gambler who has given himself the person and personality of a British royal, going by the name ‘Lord Doyle’, dressed in expensive jackets and waistcoats, smoking a cigar and chugging down champagne, and ducking the authorities as he is down to his last penny.There is also something seriously wrong with him physically as Doyle keeps sweating and clutching his heart, and grimacing at regular intervals.Doyle is meant to represent the gluttony and greed of a place such as Macau, where people such as him fly halfway around the world to splurge often ill-gotten wealth. His sometime partner in crime is a fellow Briton, played by Alex Jennings, who gives him a much-too-brief exposition on “savagery of the upper classes” and why a poor Irishman like him will always remain a pretender.Also Read | Good Fortune movie review: A tepid taleThat strain is invoked again when Betty (Swinton) enters the picture, as an investigator trying to bring Doyle to justice for the hundreds of pounds he has stolen from an old woman, among others, back home. Unlike the smooth-talking and suave Doyle, the gangly Betty is plain as plain can be, in awkward glasses, strange hair and ungainly gait (with Swinton’s uncanniness) – and the film is at pains to underline this. Of course, she is putty in Doyle’s slimy hands, though the film would have you believe he is not so oily.If there is one character in Ballad of a Small Player who deserves its beauty as much in letter as in spirit, it is Dao Ming (Chen), a creditor at a casino whom Doyle turns to in desperation. Chen endows to Dao Ming both a moral clarity and a soulful pain, that this film is otherwise only pretending to seek.Story continues below this adBallad of a Small Player movie director: Edward BergerBallad of a Small Player movie cast: Colin Farrell, Tilda Swinton, Fala ChenBallad of a Small Player movie rating: 2 starsClick here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Colin FarrellTilda Swinton