Ballad of a Small Player (2025)
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A disgraced Irish financier living under a false identity in Macau faces a desperate deadline while navigating the hazy line between reality and hallucination.
The story
Brendan Reilly, a disgraced Irish financier posing as the aristocratic "Lord Doyle," lives in Macau after fleeing his financial crimes in the United Kingdom. An inveterate gambler, Reilly floats between luxury hotels and opulent casinos, relying on his wealthy persona to stave off creditors as he grows increasingly dependent on alcohol, superstition, and the fleeting thrill of gambling. Reilly's behavior draws notice from casino employees and affluent regulars, who regard him as a gweilo, a "white ghost". With mounting debts and dwindling funds, he continues to try his luck at the baccarat tables. There Reilly meets Dao Ming, an enigmatic credit broker, who leads him to a temple on the water for the first night of the Ghost Festival.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Brendan Reilly, a disgraced Irish financier posing as the aristocratic "Lord Doyle," lives in Macau after fleeing his financial crimes in the United Kingdom. He survives by posing as a wealthy man while struggling with gambling addiction and debt. He meets Dao Ming, a credit broker, who takes him to a temple during the Ghost Festival. After a mysterious encounter, Reilly is tracked by British investigator Cynthia Blithe, who gives him a deadline to pay his debts or face trial. He meets another con man, Adrian Lippett, and eventually finds a stash of money in a shed belonging to Dao. This leads to a winning streak that gets him banned from casinos. He eventually makes a final bet, winning enough to pay off his debts and allow Blithe to leave. However, he learns that Dao died during the festival and his time with her was a hallucination. He ends the film at a temple, burning his money as an offering, while his reflection appears to be Dao's ghost.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 102
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English; Cantonese
- Directors
- Edward Berger
- Writers
- Rowan Joffé · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Colin Farrell · Brendan Reilly / "Lord Doyle"; Fala Chen · Dao-Ming; Tilda Swinton · Cynthia Blithe; Deanie Ip · "Grandma"; Alex Jennings · Adrian Lippett
- Genres
- black comedy; psychological thriller
- Themes
- identity; addiction; illusion vs reality
- Tone and mood
- dark; surreal
- Setting
- Macau and the United Kingdom during the Ghost Festival.
- Premise and plot tags
- gambling; con artist; supernatural
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Ballad of a Small Player by Lawrence Osborne (2014)
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, while Farrell's performance received praise.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 46 · scale: 100 · review count: 29
- Production trivia
- The film was based on a 2014 novel.; The film features a cameo by Anthony Wong.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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