Colin Farrell's new psychological thriller movie Ballad of a Small Player has just landed on Netflix. The new movie follows a travelling gambler who is being pursued by a determined detective.
Fans wanting to catch the movie can now do so via Netflix, with the film dropping on the streamer today.
Ballad of a Small Player, which is based on a book by Lawrence Osborne, follows Farrell's character Lord Doyle as his "past and his debts start to catch up with him", and while laying low in Macau he "encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation".
"Doyle came to Macao because here, as a 'foreign ghost' who no one knows, he can reinvent himself," a synopsis adds. "But Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton) knows who he really is — and what he’s running from. A sympathetic casino hostess may be able to help Doyle escape his mounting problems. But is there anywhere left for him to go?"
Also starring Tilda Swinton, the movie sits at a 55% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, with Deadline calling it a "dizzying and dazzling fever dream", while HeyUGuys said it "manages to keep you hooked".
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The Observer further called it "a woozily seductive account of compulsive self-destruction", adding: "Farrell is excellent, peeling away accents and booze-stained suits as he hides himself from the sins of his past and the appetites of the present."
In a more negative review, Screen International wrote: "Playfully, almost proudly shallow as it feeds off the feverish highs and lows of its addicted protagonist, this neo-noir offers plenty of buzzy delight — that is, until the story’s pretensions bring down the whole house of cards."
AV Club added: "Any subtlety found in the kind of schlubby, sharp-tongued, purgatorial storytelling that Osbourne favors gets trumped by [director Edward] Berger’s over-stylized simplicity."
The movie comes from Conclave director Edward Berger and 28 Weeks Later writer Rowan Joffé, and also stars Fala Chen, Deanie Ip and Alex Jennings.
Ballad of a Small Player is available to stream now on Netflix.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
