Ballad of a Small Player Debuts to Mixed Reviews

Edward Berger directed Ballad of a Small Player, adapted by Rowan Joffé from Lawrence Osborne’s novel, and stars Colin Farrell as Lord Doyle, a desperate gambler in Macau. The cast includes Fala Chen, Tilda Swinton, Deanie Ip and Alex Jennings, and Joffé says he reshaped the book into a three-act screenplay that adds and expands characters, including a role for Swinton. Farrell and Berger leaned into Macau’s neon-drenched aesthetics; Chen said she even gambled with real money to prepare. The film premiered at festivals — including a gala at the London Film Festival — played a limited theatrical run and arrived on Netflix on Oct. 29. Critics are divided, praising Farrell’s presence and the striking visuals and production design while faulting the story as over-directed, impenetrable or underdeveloped.