Ballad of a Small Player: What is the latest Colin Farrell thriller all about?

Ballad of a Small Player is a psychological thriller film that premiered at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival in August 2025. Edward Berger has directed the film, while Rowan Joffe wrote the script. It is adapted from Lawrence Osborne's 2014 eponymous novel.

Here is the official synopsis, as mentioned on Letterboxd:

"A high-stakes gambler decides to lay low in Macau after his past and debts catch up with him. Along the way he encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation."

The film was released in selected theatres on October 15, 2025.

Let's explore the details about its plot.

What is the plot of Ballad of a Small Player?

Ballad of a Small Player is about Lord Doyle, who is a gambler. He is forced to go low-profile in Macau after his past events, possibly involving duping people, have started catching up to him. He is struggling financially and is consumed by alcoholism and gambling. Doyle owns a large sum of money and is trying to find a way to get out of this situation. Eventually, he meets one of the employees at the casino, Dao Ming, who plans to help him. Meanwhile, a private investigator is trying to catch him.

Ballad of a Small Player is produced by Mike Goodridge, Edward Berger, and Mathew James Wilkinson under their banners of Good Chaos, Nine Hours, and Stigma Films.

James Friend is the cinematographer, while Nick Emerson is the editor. Volker Bertelmann has composed the film's original score. The cast members include:

Colin Farrell as Lord Doyle
Fala Chen as Dao Ming
Alex Jennings as Adrian Lippett
Tilda Swinton as Cynthia Blithe
Deanie Ip as Grandma

In a Deadline interview, Colin Farrell spoke about how he got the film:

"I had seen Edward’s work with Benedict Cumberbatch and James — Patrick Melrose — about eight, 10 years ago. I loved that. There’s a lot of cross-referential themes explored in Patrick neMelrose as there are in this film, I mean, he’s a person who’s making [an escape] because of unanswered emotional or psychological issues."

He added:

"And they’re making it be aligned towards their own demise without fully being aware of the kind of heft of disintegration that they’re experiencing, until it’s almost too late. And then you find out that it’s never too late — it’s never too late to course-correct. But it was a really physical role, I think for everyone, including the crew. It was an incredibly intense shoot, in a really good way, that fed into the work because the story starts very loud, it starts in that bombastic way."

The film was released in selected cinema halls in the United States of America on October 15, 2025. In the UK, it will drop on October 17. It will start streaming on Netflix on October 29. Ballad of a Small Player was also screened at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in the special presentations section.