Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Wynn Palace, Macau

I'm usually a bit behind the time with my featured films, I don't have my finger on the pulse of what is being filmed here sadly. However, one of the most recent international movies shot here (although mainly in Macau) is Ballad of a Small Player and it was recently released on Netflix.

I haven't read the original book but have been told the film departs from the book in terms of the locales used - changing the more traditional older hotels and casinos in the book for the monstrosities that now sit on the Cotai Strip.

That said, I enjoyed this film. It revolves around a shady character, Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell), who has exhausted his money and racked up quite a bit of credit in the pursuit of a big win at the Baccarat tables. He befriends a money lendor, Dao-ming (Fala Chen), who has her own issues dealing with the morality of her work.

The visuals in the film are quite striking with lots of colour throughout as well as some decent locations. The first of which is Doyle's hotel, the Wynn Palace. It looks like he starts off in one of the upper floor rooms, but by the end of the film he has moved to one of the huge suites - each one with a garden and narrow pool (see lower images). This is also the same hotel where he is later confronted by a Macau casino executive played by Anthony Wong Chau-sang.

The ever awesome Anthony Wong