If you haven’t seen the latest movie to hit streaming services yet, you could be missing out. Ballad of a Small Player is the latest movie from Colin Farrell, and follows Lord Doyle as he tries to lie low in Macao. He begins to work with Dao Ming, who is a casino employee with their own agenda, as he tries to evade a private investigator who is hot on his tail.
A Casino Movie that Blurs the Boundaries
Casino movies have always been huge. From Ocean’s Eleven to Croupier, Casino, and even Rounders. Although they all follow a similar theme, Ballad of a Small Player blurs the lines a little by taking things in a new direction.
It’s not surprising to see that it’s becoming such a hit, either, especially with more people trying their hand at casino games. Part of this is down to the online world offering so many beginner-friendly games, which has resulted in the sector growing to US$226.90bn in 2025.
This, in combination with the growth of online casino guide pages that showcase information about games, their odds, and how to play, has helped to make table games more accessible for those who might never have stepped foot in a casino.
When you add to this the rise of casino podcasts, which delve into different strategies of table games, it’s not hard to see why Hollywood is embracing this movement and running with it. With hundreds of casino movies coming out over the years, it’s a topic that’s been explored heavily, but with that said, Ballad of a Small Player looks to take things in a different direction by adding a cat-and-mouse chase and unique characters to create a fun comedy that stands apart from the classics for all the right reasons.
An Authentic Filming Experience
The director brought two people from his hit movie, All Quiet on the Western Front. He brought Volker Bertelmann, as well as James Friend. Producers, including Matthew James Wilkinson from Yesterday and Mike Goodridge from Triangle of Sadness, also join the team. The film is set in modern-day Macao, which is roughly an hour from Hong Kong. With lush tropical vegetation and stunning Portuguese architecture, it really does help to contrast the scenery of Vegas, which is what helps to make this movie such a hit.
For James Friend, it wasn’t just the filming location that provided the grand landscape; it was the fact that the casinos in the area stand out in their own right. According to Friend, the casinos felt like cities in themselves, which helped to add a whole new dynamic to the film and the result they were trying to get. With the movie now streaming globally on Netflix, it’s already gaining a huge amount of traction. The movie launched on the 15th of October, and with a worldwide launch taking place on the 29th of October. For Colin Farrell, it’s not like anything he’s worked on before, but at the same time, it gave him a unique opportunity to explore things differently.