TIFF 2025 Review: Ballad of a Small Player – “Colin Farrell is not appreciated enough for his willingness to push boundaries.”

A travelling gambler’s streak of bad luck gets even worse when he has to atone for his past indiscretions.

Residing in a luxury hotel in Macao, Lord Freddy Doyle plays the role of an aristocrat and high roller, but the debts keep piling up from gambling losses and unpaid bills. A last-ditch effort to secure credit from a casino leads him to encounter a money lender with some troubles of her own.  The situation worsens when a private detective discovers his whereabouts and gives Doyle an ultimatum: pay back the funds he embezzled or be turned over to the police.

Colin Farrell is not appreciated enough for his willingness to push boundaries with his characters, and beneath the absurd persona of Lord Freddy Doyle is a truly lost soul at the risk of being entirely consumed by his gambling addiction.  Tilda Swinton excels at being quirky and eccentric, so her role is more about meeting expectations rather than defying them.  Fala Chen is touching as a money lender who provides Doyle with a glimmer of hope and compassion that may or may not be enough for him to avoid self-destruction.

At the centre of the visual storytelling is a myth about a person being consumed by their greed, which leads to a highly stylized cinematography and a ghost resembling something painted by Edvard Munch.  What has a more realistic aesthetic are the moments when Doyle allows his true self to appear.   The overwrought musical score has become a trademark for Edward Berger and the gluttony on display makes one wonder how Farrell could do multiple takes for those scenes.   The conclusion is appropriate as it brings everything to a close in a way that is mythical, not Hollywood in nature.

The 50th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 4-14, 2025, and for more information visit tiff.net.    

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.