Netflix has something very good going on with Edward Berger – a director whose star only seems to be rising, even after an Academy Award. The streaming platform collaborated with him on All Quiet on the Western Front a couple of years ago to widespread acclaim, and now (after his break with the superb Conclave) he’s back with another movie on Netflix.
Ballad of a Small Player looks like it might have a slightly more intimate tone, or at least a tighter focus, as it takes a deep look at a man in the grips of a true crisis. Colin Farrell stars as Lord Doyle, effectively on the run in Macau as he seeks to get away from what he considers a terrible mistake. It just got another proper trailer, and the whole thing looks frankly ravishing.
As countless directors have made the most of in America’s Las Vegas, few things look as amazing on-screen as the bright lights of a gambling capital at night – and Berger certainly appears to be going all-in on the vibe. Macau looks unreal in the trailer, all lights and flames and lasers, while Doyle cavorts through it, riding waves of luck, good or bad.
Tilda Swinton is on hand, though, to ruin his fun – she plays a private investigator who’s finally tracked him down in the hopes of being able to bring him to justice for persistent fraud back home. It’s a situation that leaves Doyle needing to find a lot of money, very fast, and he only seems to know one way out of that hole: gambling.
Image 1 of 5
I feel like there’s almost no way things will end well for him, and this trailer certainly makes it looks like the situation will only get darker as it unfolds – in fact, there are some almost horror-inflected vibes at points. Still, what really strikes me is how good the film seems to look, full of saturated colour and energy.
Farrell is at the top of his game at the moment, meanwhile, while Swindon is ever-reliable, so this seems like a bit of a surefire hit for Netflix. It’ll be on the streaming service on 29 October, after a smaller cinema release on 15 October.
