Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Rio Hotel Casino, Macau

Another spot from TST Dave, this one is quite brief and I had totally missed it so hats off to Dave for persevering on this one. It's definitely a tricky one to spot. The top image shows Lord Doyle riding an escalator down to a lower floor during his initial boit of gambling. Dave was able to match the ceiling decoration in the background to confirm it was the Rio Hotel Casino. This is the same location that Doyle is first spotted by Dao-ming and the same place he returns to following his return to Macau after convalescing in Hong Kong, so it's a fairly major location I had missed out. Thanks Dave.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Sands Casino Hotel, Macau

Here are a couple of extra locations for Ballad of a Small Player courtesy of TST Dave. So many thanks to Dave. The first one is a brief view of the Sands, identifiable by the crescent-shaped light fittings that cover the gaming floor. If you have a decent enough memory you may recall I had identified this a while back for Now You See Me 2, but I had neglected to include it this time around.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - The Venetian, Macau

This is the last post for Ballad of a Small Player (unless I can identify some of the more obscure interiors). It's been a while since I stayed here (10+ years) but I think I recognise some of the interior at the Venetian including the food court where Doyle sits down and gets given a bit of reality by Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton). The last time I was here it still had a Fatburger!

This is the small garden/putting course on the hotel podium

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Macau Light Rapid Transit Taipa

Doyle returns to Macau with Dao-ming's stash of money and we next see him riding the LRT line back to the casinos. This is another of Macau's recently added features that I have yet to experience (I've only been back once since the end of Covid).

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island

Doyle wakes up from his medical episode and is being tended to by Dao-ming on a small floating hut in the middle of Sok Kwu Wan (Picnic Bay is the English name for this place). They then spend the next few days (?) recuperating and bonding until Dao-ming mysteriously disappears again. Doyle then finds her huge stash of cash hidden in bags sunk in the water beneath the hut.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Grand Hyatt Hotel, Wanchai

Doyle gets his money, but is then left with a huge restaurant bill. Some how he makes it to Hong Kong and heads to the Grand Hyatt in Wanchai. He then stuffs his face silly and tries his best to delay having to pay his bill until he has a medical episode.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Residence of the Portuguese Consul, Macau

Most of my regular readers will know this place by its former identity: the Bela Vista Hotel. However, since the Handover in 1999 the building has been repurposed as the residence of the Portuguese Consul General. They must have pulled some strings to use it for the production and the Consul does get an acknowledgement in the credits. Doyle heads here when Dao-ming disappears and tries to get his friend to repay a debt he owes him so he can run away to Hong Kong.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Pak Nai, Tuen Mun

Following the fire festivities at the temple, the pair head to a nearby beach and sit on a wooden bench in the middle of what looks like mud flats. When Doyle wakes up in the morning, Dao-ming has disappeared and written a number code on his hand.  This scene was in fact filmed back in Hong Kong. This is the view from the low-tide mud flats in front of Pak Nai looking towards the Shekou peninsula in Shenzhen. It's not far from the so-called "Pak Nai Sky Mirror" near Ap Tsai Hang.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Temple de Tin Hau, Coloane

The large temple that Doyle and Dao-ming go to that evening is the Tin Hau temple in the middle of Coloane.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Edifício San Mei On, Rua Três do Bairro da Areia Preta

Out of all the locations in this film, this has probably caused me the most pain to find and it was nice to finally pin it down. Dao-ming lives in an old style tenement with a central courtyard. The taxi drops the pair off on Rua Três do Bairro da Areia Preta and the pair enter the northernmost block of the "San Mei On" buildings. I have no idea how long these places will be around because the images on the internet make them look quite dilapidated. If I make it to Macau this year I will definitley include it on my visit list.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Unnamed Side Street by Hotel Fortuna

Following the gambler's suicide (shot in Hong Kong), Dao-ming runs away and leaves via a side street. This time we are back in Macau on an unnamed sidestreet next to the Fortuna. Dao-ming leaves via a exit into this side street of the south side of the hotel and Doyle follows her and flags down a taxi. As I've mentioned before, Streetview imagery in Macau hasn't been updated since 2008 but the imagery shows the same place looking bit scruffier in real life. It's most likely had a bit of a spring clean since 2008 though. In case the location label (auto generated at the bottom of the post) snaps away (edit: yes, it snapped away), this is the small road immediately south of Hotel Fortuna.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Windsor House Car Park, Causeway Bay

Doyle briefly catches a glimpse of a man falling past his window as he relaxes in the hotel lounge, and runs down to see what has happened. This is a quick hop to Hong Kong because by the time he gets down to what we think is the ground level of the hotel, we have arrived at a podium carpark at Windsor House in Causeway Bay.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Diamond Casino, Macau

Located in the Holiday Inn, Doyle heads there at the beginning of the film, the entrance seemingly being on the same thoroughfare that links Rua de Cantao with Rua de Xangai.

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Praça de D. Afonso Henriques, Macau

We were in this area just recently for Expired, the common identifier being the Hotel Fortuna neon sign in the top right of the image below. 

I'm sure there are a few more images I can pin to this location but without physically being there, it's hard to get a hold of current locations in Macau thanks to the extremely outdated and relatively poor coverage of Streetview. 

Ballad of a Small Player - Colin Farrell (2025) - Casino Lisboa, Macau

There are no scenes shot inside Macau's most famous casino, the Lisboa, but we get some nice views of the colourful exterior at a couple of points in the film.