Netflix drops wild trailer for Colin Farrell’s ‘Ballad of a Small Player’
So Netflix just dropped a trailer for Colin Farrell’s new movie Ballad of a Small Player, and honestly?
It looks unhinged in the best possible way. After a long time, Farrell looks like he is back in full unpredictable mode. It’s exactly the kind of performance where you can’t look away because you know something wild is about to happen.
The film is adapted from Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel of the same name. The Banshees of Inisherin actor is playing Lord Doyle, a gambler who is basically running away from his debts and his past. And he seems to lose his sanity in this process. He heads to Macau, hoping to lay low, but let’s be real… Guys like this never actually lie low.
The trailer makes that crystal clear. One second, Farrell’s on the shower floor like life has already chewed him up. But the next thing he’s cracking open a lobster in his hotel room like it is a coping mechanism. Then he is screaming across a poker table, and finally, just casually watching a fire burn like it is Tuesday. The vibe? Total mess.
Of course, the film is not just Farrell carrying all the madness. Fala Chen shows up as Dao Ming, a casino worker who tempts him with a deal he probably should not take. And then there is Tilda Swinton. She is naturally playing a private investigator because who else can look at you like she already knows your darkest secret? Add Deanie Ip and Alex Jennings to the mix, and it feels like the kind of cast that could turn a poker game into a war zone.
The cool part is that Edward Berger is directing this one. For those who don’t know him, he is the same guy who gave Netflix All Quiet on the Western Front. That film racked up nine Oscar nominations, so the man clearly knows how to deliver intensity. Only this time, he is swapping muddy trenches for neon casinos. Different battlefield, same tension.
And this time, Netflix is not just throwing this on the app right away. First, it is doing the fancy festival tour. It is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, then hitting Zurich, where Farrell is picking up the Golden Icon Award (flex much?). After that, it lands in U.S. theatres on October 15th, UK and Ireland theatres on October 17th, and finally streams worldwide on October 29th.
So here is the bottom line: Ballad of a Small Player looks less like a movie about gambling and more like a movie about imploding in style. And if you are into messed-up characters making terrible life decisions, this one is absolutely going to be a watch.