Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for Edward Berger’s latest psychological thriller Ballad of a Small Player, featuring Colin Farrell in the lead role as a gambling addict
Farrell plays Lord Doyle, a man consumed by the neon-lit casinos of Macau, sinking into debt with every passing day, in the one-minute-13-second trailer. His life takes an unexpected turn when Dao Ming (Fala Chen), a casino employee, intervenes to rescue him. Meanwhile, Tilda Swinton joins the cast as Cynthia Blithe, a private investigator determined to confront Doyle about the secrets of his past.
Adapted from Lawrence Osborne’s novel of the same name, the screenplay is penned by Rowan Joffe, best known for 28 Weeks Later (2007).
Ballad of a Small Player marks Berger’s follow-up to Conclave and continues his collaboration with cinematographer James Friend, production designer Jonathan Houlding, costume designer Lisy Christl, editor Nick Emerson and composer Volker Bertelmann.
Berger shot to prominence with his German-language adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), which won four Oscars including best international feature. He followed that success with Conclave, which secured Peter Straughan the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay earlier this year.
Farrell, on the other hand, recently scored his first Emmy nomination for his performance as the menacing Oz Cobb in HBO’s The Penguin, a spinoff of The Batman.
Produced by Mike Goodridge and Matthew James Wilkinson, Ballad of a Small Player will premiere in US theatres on October 15, open in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on October 17, and land on Netflix globally on October 29.
The film is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and will also be screened at the Zurich Film Festival, where Farrell will be honoured with the Golden Icon Award.
