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Ballad of a Small Player

Ballad of a Small Player

Crime · Drama · 2025

Amid the glittering casinos of Macau, a gambler running from his past—and his debts—becomes fascinated by an enigmatic woman at the baccarat table.

Movie details

Ballad of a Small Player

2025 Crime · Drama 1h 41m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

Amid the glittering casinos of Macau, a gambler running from his past—and his debts—becomes fascinated by an enigmatic woman at the baccarat table.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Ballad of a Small Player?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Place Beyond the Pines

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Bugsy

Bugsy

Crime · 1991

New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.

The Gambler

The Gambler

Drama · 1974

New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.

Hard Eight

Hard Eight

Drama · 1997

A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.

Molly's Game

Molly's Game

Drama · 2017

Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.

Rounders

Rounders

Drama · 1998

Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.

25th Hour

25th Hour

Crime · 2002

On the eve of a seven-year prison sentence, a New York drug dealer spends his final day of freedom confronting his past, his relationships, and the choices that led to his downfall in a city still reeling from 9/11.

The Unforgivable

The Unforgivable

Drama · 2021

A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.

Casino

Casino

Crime · 1995

In Las Vegas, two best friends--a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Edward Berger

Written by

Rowan Joffé

Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell

Lord Doyle

Fala Chen

Fala Chen

Dao Ming

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton

Cynthia Blithe

Deanie Ip

Deanie Ip

Grandma

Alex Jennings

Alex Jennings

Adrian Lippett

Jason Tobin

Jason Tobin

Mr. Huang

Adrienne Lau

Adrienne Lau

Casino Manager

Court is in session

Put Ballad of a Small Player on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.