“Ballad of a Small Player” Trailer Drops: Colin Farrell Bets Big in Edward Berger’s Haunting Casino Thriller

Netflix has just released the official trailer for Ballad of a Small Player, and it’s every bit as hypnotic and high-stakes as you’d expect from Edward Berger, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind All Quiet on the Western Front. Set in the dimly-lit, surreal underworld of Macau’s casinos, the film stars Colin Farrell as Lord Doyle, a washed-up gambler chasing redemption—or maybe just running from it.

The trailer paints Doyle as a man barely holding it together, wandering the neon-soaked casino floors with a drink in hand and demons in his pocket. Farrell disappears into the role, slipping into a world of dice, desperation, and shadowy secrets. Enter Fala Chen as Dao Ming, a seemingly serene casino hostess whose own past might be even murkier than Doyle’s. But the true wildcard is Tilda Swinton as Cynthia Blithe, a sharply dressed private investigator tracking Doyle with icy precision and unsettling calm.

Based on Lawrence Osborne’s critically acclaimed novel, Ballad of a Small Player is less about roulette and more about ruin. Berger trades in atmosphere and ambiguity, blending the slow-burn tension of noir with existential dread. With a screenplay by Rowan Joffe, the film promises to blur the line between guilt and grief, fate and free will—making this more than just a gambling story. It’s a psychological plunge.

Rounding out the cast are Deanie Ip and Alex Jennings, adding gravitas to a story steeped in mystery, melancholy, and money. The trailer teases stunning cinematography and a narrative that’s part fever dream, part reckoning. Whether Doyle is escaping his past or spiraling into it is the question that lingers long after the teaser ends.

Ballad of a Small Player rolls into cinemas on October 15, 2025, before hitting Netflix worldwide on October 29. With Farrell in top form and Berger behind the lens, the stakes couldn’t be higher—and we’re all in.