Set against the surreal neon haze of Macau’s imposing casino hotels, Edward Berger’s (All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave) Ballad of a Small Player is a seductive character study of an obsessive gambler sinking further into a quagmire of his own making. Adapted from Lawrence Osborne’s acclaimed novel, the film follows Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell), a disgraced British solicitor who has fled scandal in England and reinvented himself as a high-stakes gambler in Asia. Haunted by guilt and fuelled by a reckless hunger for oblivion, he drifts through the baccarat tables, wagering fortunes he does not truly own. When his luck falters, Doyle meets Dao-Ming (Fala Chen), a mysterious woman whose presence seems to both anchor and unsettle him. But does the mysterious Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton) know who Doyle really is, and what he’s running from?

There will be Open Captioned screenings at 15.45 on Friday 17th, and 18.15 on Thursday 23rd.

Notes by David O’Mahony